Two NSW Liberal MPs deny leaking against leader as fallout from council bungle grows

Two of the most senior NSW Liberal MPs have denied white-anting Mark Speakman after a radio shock jock alleged they were leaking against both the state opposition leader and division president Don Harwin.

Veteran 2GB radio host Ray Hadley on Wednesday claimed senior Liberals Anthony Roberts and Alister Henskens were leaking to undermine the moderate leaders and capitalise on the party’s council election bungle.

Anthony Roberts (left), Alister Henskens and Mark Speakman.Credit: NewsWire/Monique Harmer, Dean Sewell, Janie Barrett

Their denials follow a disastrous week in which state director Richard Shields was sacked over Liberal headquarters’ failure to submit the nomination forms for 140 council candidates across 16 local government areas. Former federal director Brian Loughnane will undertake a two-week review of the fiasco.

The failure sparked an internecine assault on Harwin and Speakman, with conservatives accusing the pair of being culpable in the historic bungle. Hadley took umbrage with two “cowardly” senior MPs who he said were leaking as a vehicle to undermine the moderate leaders.

“Look, I’ve got leaks from the left, right and centre from the right wing. One of you people get the balls to actually come on this program and say what you’re saying to me privately … Stop sending me text messages. Cowardly. Letting me be your mouthpiece,” he said live on his program.

“Get on the air now and tell the left of your party you’ve had a gutful of them. You know who you are from the right: Anthony Roberts, Alister Henskens. Come on. Get on here and challenge them. Have a bit of courage for the sake of NSW politics.”

2GB shock jock Ray Hadley has outed two conservative NSW Liberal MPs for leaking to him.Credit: James Brickwood

When contacted by the Herald, Hadley stood by the allegations.

Speakman, Roberts and Henskens were all in the running to replace former premier Dominic Perrottet as Liberal leader after the 2023 March election. Speakman, formerly the attorney-general, prevailed over Roberts 22 votes to 13.

In a statement on Wednesday afternoon, Henskens said Speakman continued to have his support as leader. He said he was “dismayed” by the failure to lodge nominations which demonstrated change was “clearly” needed.

“I will make that clear in my submission to the review by Brian Loughnane,” he said.

Pressed later on whether he had sought to undermine Speakman’s leadership by leaking to Hadley, Henskens said if that proposition meant “attacking him personally as leader – no, I haven’t”.

“That doesn’t mean I always agree with everything the party has done,” he said, adding his comments have all been in the context of Harwin.

“I hadn’t communicated with Ray for six weeks before he called for Harwin’s removal on Monday.”

Henskens also said he had not spoken to Hadley on Wednesday.

Roberts denied having ever suggested rolling Speakman to any of his colleagues, let alone texting Hadley about the prospect. He acknowledged he had responded to texts about Harwin resigning, but said his remarks accorded with what he has said publicly.

He said he had opinions about how the party operated, like most people.

Arriving at a farewell dinner for former premier Dominic Perrottet and former NSW treasurer Matt Kean in Newtown on Wednesday night, Speakman said he accepted the denials before joking that thankfully the Liberals had booked the dinner reservation in time.

Liberal MPs who spoke about the matter on the condition of anonymity were stunned by Hadley’s disclosure. If true, Henskens’ positions as shadow attorney-general and manager of opposition business were untenable and in clear breach of the provisions of shadow cabinet, sources said.

Roberts, the member for Lane Cove, opted against serving in Speakman’s shadow cabinet and has sat on the backbench since the election. He is one of the most influential voices among the state’s conservative Liberals.

Harwin, a former Liberal minister in the Berejiklian government, has faced a barrage of calls to resign over the nomination debacle. Conservatives allege his role as effective chair of the Liberal Party means he should fall on his sword.

Without his resignation, Harwin’s critics have little leverage to remove him as president, Liberal sources said. A state council of about 800 delegates would need to be called in which members would need to vote on his leadership. The prospect of such a spill was small, insiders said.

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