To lobby or party? That's the question

FORMER ministers Alexander Downer and Santo Santoro are holding off making a choice between lobbying and their elected roles in the Liberal Party.

FORMER Howard government ministers Alexander Downer and Santo Santoro are holding off making a choice between lobbying and their elected roles in the Liberal Party.

Tony Abbott last month introduced changes to the lobbying Code of Conduct, whereby lobbyists will have to resign from party positions in order to stay on the federal register.

The changes have caused ructions in NSW, where disgusted rank-and-file party members have been urged not to resign over the attempted suspension of key dissident John Ruddick, who last week demanded greater internal democracy and the exclusion of lobbyists from positions of power.

Registered lobbyists Michael Photios and Joe Tannous have announced their resignations from the 20-member NSW Liberal executive following the Prime Minister's crackdown.

The NSW executive still contains senior officers of peak industry groups that lobby government. They include Australian Wagering Council head Chris Downy as party president, and Tourism and Transport Forum deputy chief executive Trent Zimmerman and Property Council state deputy executive director Felicity Wilson as vice-presidents.

State director Mark Neeham last Wednesday moved to suspend Mr Ruddick's membership for five years after he publicly called for rank-and-file plebiscites for all candidate and the removal of these "in-house lobbyists" from the executive.

In South Australia, Mr Abbott has given Mr Downer and fellow party vice-president Santo Santoro until March 20 to comply with the new guidelines.

They will come into force a week after the state election, allowing Mr Downer to maintain the role he is about to step into as state president while continuing to work for lobbying firm Bespoke Approach. Mr Downer is a partner in the firm along with former Liberal party adviser Ian Smith and former Labor senator Nick Bolkus.

Opposition Leader Steven Marshall said he "definitely" had a commitment from Mr Downer to remain as head of the party's state fundraising arm until the March 15 poll, when the state opposition is hoping to seize government after 12 years in opposition.

Mr Downer could not be reached for comment yesterday, but sources close to the former foreign minister said he would "definitely" quit his executive roles after the vote. "He doesn't want it to interfere with his income (and) the party roles are largely do-nothing positions," the source said.

Mr Downer will take over as state party president from Grant Chapman on October 19, after his unopposed nomination is confirmed at the party's annual general meeting.

Mr Santoro, a former senator and aged care minister, runs a lobbying business and is a vice-president of the Liberal Party.