Liberal fury at the antics of Alex, the anti-woke senator

Within 24 hours of rolling his senior South Australian colleague, Anne Ruston, for the top spot on the state Senate ticket, conservative firebrand Alex Antic was on the attack, doing what he does best: generating headlines and provoking offence.

This time, he dismissed moderates’ fears that the demotion of a senior woman could spark a voter backlash, saying “the ‘gender card’ is nothing but a grievance narrative, constructed by the activist media and a disgruntled political class”.

Alex Antic is known for controversial positions, including his opposition to vaccine mandates.Credit: Photo: James Brickwood Artwork: Jamie Brown

“We need the best person for the job regardless of race, gender or sexuality,” he told The Australian.

Antic, a 49-year-old arts-law graduate and outspoken backbencher who has been quietly building his numbers in the SA Liberal Party branches for years, is known for his controversial political positions, such as his opposition to vaccine mandates and gender reassignment surgery for teenagers.

He has also accused the ABC of grooming children by allowing a drag queen to appear on Play School, warned that woke ideology will destroy the Western world and was due to MC a speaking tour of Australia by Donald Trump jnr, which was cancelled at the last minute.

Antic is seen by political observers as the spiritual successor to another former SA senator, Cory Bernardi, who defected from the Liberals and founded the failed Australian Conservatives party.

Like Bernardi, Antic delights in throwing red-meat policy proposals to the Liberal Party’s conservative base. But he is more focused on cultivating conservative support on social media and has a “friends and enemies” view of the media landscape, whereas Bernardi was never shy about approaching a microphone.

One SA Liberal, who asked not to be named to discuss internal party matters, said Antic was a strong fundraiser with a solid social media presence but was “better placed in One Nation than the modern Liberal Party”, a reference to Antic siding with One Nation in 2021 to oppose vaccine mandates.

“The backlash from the moderates and the message that demoting her [Ruston] sends is greater than the benefit of appealing to conservative voters,” they said.

Antic’s preselection victory on the weekend means Ruston, a former cabinet minister and current spokeswoman for health, aged care and sport, has been relegated to second place on the ticket, with veteran senator David Fawcett punted down to third. It also raises questions, once again, about how serious the Liberal Party is about attracting more female candidates to the party.

There’s no chance Opposition Leader Peter Dutton will intervene. He doesn’t need to.

Ruston is almost certain to win another term in 2025 from the number two spot, but the move has still sparked deep anger in some quarters of the party.

“He has embarrassed a member of Dutton’s leadership team but not affected any real change other than to push Ruston down to two on the ticket,” the same SA Liberal said.

Coalition finance spokesperson Jane Hume, a Ruston ally, was one of the few Liberals to speak out on the preselection on Monday, describing the demotion of the “exceptionally good shadow minister” as a mistake.

Another Liberal colleague of Antic who also asked not to be named described the senator’s years of work to secure the top spot on the ticket as a “vanity project” and said, “people are furious with him, no one is talking to him”.

Liberal senators Anne Ruston (left) and Jane Hume.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

But a SA Liberal who is an Antic supporter said the backbench senator’s elevation showed “the Liberal Party [in the state] wants to see a more conservative, forward-facing approach”.

“The moderates whinge about getting more women into politics. They had a perfect chance, they could have backed [Antic ally] Leah Blyth rather than David Fawcett, but they didn’t.”

Antic’s move has some parallels with Labor powerbroker Don Farrell claiming first place on the party’s SA Senate ticket at the expense of then-finance minister Penny Wong in 2012. But on that occasion, Anthony Albanese and other members of the party complained loudly and publicly, as the move was likely to cost Wong her seat, and Farrell stepped aside for Wong.

Antic and his key SA ally, MP Tony Pasin, are the leaders of a new generation of conservatives in the state and their influence has grown significantly in the division, as evidenced by Antic’s victory over Ruston, who is not a factional player.

Liberal moderate Christopher Pyne’s exit from politics, the defeat of moderate premier Steven Marshall in the 2022 state election and moderate senator Simon Birmingham’s more hands-off approach to factional politics have helped create the space for Antic and Pasin’s influence to grow.

But while Antic’s elevation has created divisions in the Liberal Party, the first SA Liberal said it had not all gone the way of the conservatives.

“Twelve months ago, the hard-right said they could take her and Fawcett out entirely and take over the faction. That hasn’t happened.”

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