Mundine to quit race for NSW Liberal senate seat

Leading No campaigner Nyunggai Warren Mundine will quit the race for the NSW Liberal senate position vacated by former foreign minister Marise Payne.

Mundine’s decision to withdraw comes after an awkward week in which his positions on treaties with Indigenous Australians and whether the date of Australia Day should be changed were exposed as contradictory to his anti-Voice colleagues.

Warren Mundine is pulling out of the race for a NSW senate seat vacancy created by Marise Payne’s decision to quit politics.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

He said on the ABC’s Insiders on Sunday that he supported a treaty with Indigenous people and wanted to change the date of Australia Day, two agenda items the No side has claimed the Yes camp would pursue through a Voice to parliament. Mundine’s comments caused angst among conservative NSW Liberals who were supporting his Senate run.

The prominent No campaigner, who stood for the NSW seat of Gilmore for the Liberal Party in the 2019 election, confirmed to this masthead he planned to withdraw.

“It looks like I am going to be pulling out and I will stay in the business sector,” he said.

Mundine’s decision was also influenced by the difficulty of untangling himself from business contracts with Australian government entities. One of his businesses has a contract with the federal government that would potentially preclude him from parliament, as section 44 of the Constitution disqualifies someone with a direct or indirect pecuniary interest in any agreement with the Commonwealth.

The person who was Mundine’s biggest threat – former NSW government minister Andrew Constance – is now the clear favourite for the Senate spot, but a growing number of candidates are jostling for the position vacated by Payne, with nominations to close on October 4.

The Right faction, which was backing Mundine, is now scrambling to choose a suitable candidate.

Other conservative-aligned candidates include Mina Zaki, an Afghanistan-born, anti-Taliban activist and cyber expert at consulting firm KPMG; barrister Ishita Sethi; lawyer Pallavi Sinha; Monica Tudehope, who has previously worked as Dominic Perrottet’s policy director; and former NSW Liberal MP Lou Amato.

Sources on the Left and Right who asked not to be named so they could discuss internal party deliberations said Amato’s candidacy was largely designed to prevent Catholic Schools NSW chief executive Dallas McInerney from running, as his nomination would split conservative votes.

One senior moderate said conservative efforts to prevent McInerney from becoming a senator was “like a surgical missile strike on yourself”.

“The Right only have themselves to blame because they are utter shambles,” they said.

While internal factional disquiet is precluding McInerney from nominating, the back-up, Jess Collins, is planning to run in the federal seat of North Sydney against teal independent Kylea Tink.

Constance went up against Maria Kovacic to fill the late Jim Molan’s senate vacancy in May this year, but wasn’t backed by the Left faction warlords. This time around, he is likely to secure the support of moderate powerbrokers such as Michael Photios, NSW state MP Matt Kean and former federal MP Trent Zimmerman.

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