By Tom Rabe
NSW Women’s Liberal Council president Jacqui Munro has been endorsed to fill a vacated upper house seat after a razor-tight ballot which has all but ended the political career of divisive Transport Minister David Elliott.
The result, which was determined by the Liberal Party’s state executive late on Wednesday night, came after days of messy factional infighting involving senior facets of the NSW government.
Jacqui Munro has been endorsed to fill a NSW upper house seat. Credit: Edwina Pickles
Munro was put forward by Liberal moderates to replace the ousted Peter Poulos on Sunday evening, but the move immediately drew protests from elements of the party due to her history of working for independent City of Sydney councillor Kerryn Phelps.
Some members of the moderates, including elected MPs, protested Munro’s selection and spent days agitating for a different candidate.
The internal dispute drew in former prime minister Scott Morrison earlier in the week, while party sources said a senior member of NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet’s staff also got involved late in the process.
Elliott had been eyeing a political comeback after he lost his lower house seat in a factional play last year, but on Thursday afternoon he conceded the late-night ballot had likely put an end to his time in public office.
Transport Minister David Elliott (right) says he’s accepted his political career is all but over.Credit: Brook Mitchell
“That’s pretty much it for me, unless something extraordinary happens. I’m more than accepting of the fact it’s time for me to retire from public life,” Elliott told the Herald.
“I can’t complain about my time in politics, I had just as many ups as I had downs. Unlike some other MPs, I already know that my political career is over on March 25.”
Elliott said he had told the premier that while he was available to fill the position, he had never formally nominated.
Melanie Gibbons had lost preselection for her seat of Holsworthy.Credit: Brook Mitchell
Some Liberal members threatened to walk away from the party’s election campaign if Munro was selected to replace Poulos, who was disendorsed and temporarily booted from the party for forwarding an intimate photograph of a female colleague from a Penthouse magazine.
Outgoing member for Holsworthy Melanie Gibbons had been floated as a potential alternative to Munro, while Elliott had also put himself forward for the Legislative Council seat, arguing he was a senior minister.
Liberal sources suggested Munro got over the line in the late-night ballot by just one or two votes, while others warned her opponents may be considering challenging the result.
Key moderate Treasurer Matt Kean has insisted the position be filled by a woman, and on Monday shot down suggestions the upper house spot be used to save Elliott’s political career.
Kean had put his support behind Munro, while some sections of the moderates, particularly in Sydney’s southern suburbs, were more hesitant to back her in.
While Munro worked for Phelps at the City of Sydney in 2018, she did not assist in her federal political tilt in Wentworth, and instead campaigned for the Liberal candidate Dave Sharma.
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