Embattled NSW Liberal committee undergoes major shake-up, as moderates reassert dominance whilst fending off unexpected bid from Tony Abbott
The beleaguered NSW Liberal state committee has been purged, with ex-Victorian Senator Richard Alston and former Victorian treasurer Alan Stockdale dumped as administrators of the branch after a string controversies and gaffes.
The federal executive met on Tuesday afternoon and voted 20 votes to one on the new leadership panel proposed by federal Liberal leader Sussan Ley and her NSW counterpart Mark Speakman.
The meeting concluded that the bruised division would remain in administration until next March with former NSW Premier Nick Greiner installed as the independent chair to oversee the seven-person state executive committee for the next nine months.
Ms Ley selected former state MP Peta Seaton as her delegate on the committee, while Mr Speakman appointed barrister and outspoken moderate Jane Buncle.
It is also understood that multiple members of the NSW right faction lobbied for former Prime Minister Tony Abbott to be appointed to the committee, however the move was resoundingly voted down by the executive.
The meeting's rejection of Abbott's bid resulted in a tense factional dispute between moderates and the right.
Numerous Liberal right figures labelled the new group the "committee of management" and attacked party bosses for establishing an executive stacked with staunch social moderates and soft-right forces led by factional leader federal MP Alex Hawke.
One anonymous conservative Liberal described the outcome as a "Hawke/Moderate intervention' and told The Daily Telegraph, 'their mission will be to prevent reform from happening.'
'If the rules of the party mean that Hawke and the Moderates are always in charge, what incentive do they have to change the rules?'
The new committee will include Mark Baillie who will serve as treasurer, James Owen, Peter O'Hanlon and Berenice Walker who is also the President of the NSW Women's Council.
The result means that Victorian Liberal elders Alan Stockdale and Richard Alston will be axed as interim administrators, after former federal Liberal leader Peter Dutton announced a 10-month takeover of the NSW branch and installed a three-person oversight panel due to the 2024 council nomination blunder.
Mr Stockdale's tenure was viewed as unsustainable by a myriad of NSW Liberal figures after the veteran politician stated at a gathering of the NSW Liberal Women's Council that women had become 'sufficiently assertive' and that reverse quotas for men were needed.
Multiple Liberal insiders told the Sydney Morning Herald Mr Stockdale was vocal in his opposition of Ms Walker being appointed to the committee.
Ms Walker had previously railed against the party's direction under Mr Stockdale's leadership, with the women's council passing a motion on May 25 conveying their 'firm and formal opposition to any extension of the federal intervention'.
Ms Seaton was the only member of the interim panel who survived the restructure.
The singular vote against Ley and Speakman's committee was Charlie Taylor, the brother of shadow defence minister Angus Taylor who recently lost the Liberal leadership ballot, Liberal sources told the Sydney Morning Herald.
A Liberal source told the Daily Telegraph that NSW members had 'reclaimed the party back from Victoria'.
'The Victorian division is sinking fast and we want nothing to do with that Titanic,' the unnamed source added.
The meeting also appointed former NSW state minister Pru Goward and former federal minister and factional powerbroker Nick Minchin to lead a review into the Liberal's thumping 2025 federal election defeat.
Ms Goward and Mr Minchin are set to investigate the Coalition's tumultuous election campaign and the last term of parliament under former opposition leader Peter Dutton and provide recommendations about how the party can best reclaim the litany of seats lost to both the Teals and the Labor Party.
They are also expected to scrutinise the centralised nature of Liberal campaign HQ in the lead-up to the election, of which numerous Coalition figures have spoken out against since the overwhelming defeat.
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