Latest news with #ex-Victorian
Sydney Morning Herald
5 days ago
- Politics
- Sydney Morning Herald
The usually sure-footed Greiner stumbles but stays on track
Nick Greiner, the man tasked with saving the Liberal Party, has made the extraordinary admission that he does not want the job. The Liberals' federal executive has appointed the former NSW premier to head a new committee to oversee the party's NSW branch, after embarrassing comments by another elder statesman made his continuing tenure impossible. However, just hours after Greiner accepted the new challenge, he told ABC radio he was not keen to take the job. 'I tried to get out of it but they caught me at Auckland Airport yesterday morning at 4:30 am, and I was, I was weak,' he said. 'And look, I don't mean to be jocular about it ... that is actually true.' It is an unusual first step stumble from the sure-footed 78-year-old Greiner when the Liberal Party needs acutely disciplined leadership and tough reform following monumental administrative calamity in NSW and historic rebuff from heartland voters in last month's federal election. The former leader Peter Dutton last year appointed Alan Stockdale, 80, a former Liberal Party federal president and ex-Victorian treasurer, another outsider, former Victorian senator Richard Alston, 84, and former NSW MP Peta Seaton, 65, as administrators to run the NSW division after its failure to nominate 144 candidates for local government elections. The intervention seemed to be proceeding apace with the executive due to consider extending the trio's term on Tuesday, until Stockdale put his foot in his mouth. The Victorian told a Zoom meeting of the NSW Liberal Women's Council earlier this month that 'women are sufficiently assertive now ... we should be giving some thought to whether we need to protect men's involvement'. With consternation rippling through Liberal ranks – after all, the party failed due to its inability to attract or retain women voters – Stockdale apologised, but it was clear the two octogenarians' days were numbered. Being Victorians had something to do with it, but being male and stale played a role too, and Stockdale and Alston were shown the door. In their stead, they have been replaced by a hand-picked team with Seaton joined by leading moderate Liberal Jane Buncle, party vice presidents Berenice Walker, Peter O'Hanlon and James Owen, and honorary treasurer Mark Baillie, all of them under Greiner's watchful eye. Stockdale left another parting misstep: several Liberal sources told the Herald 's Alexandra Smith he had argued Walker, president of the women's council, should not be on the new committee. At the same time, some right-wing members pushed for former prime minister Tony Abbott to be on the committee, but were overwhelmingly opposed. Greiner admits party factions foster self-interest and deter voters, but told the ABC he would like to remove the branches' power to reject members and reduce the state executive from 27 to about 10 or 12.
Sky News AU
5 days ago
- Politics
- Sky News AU
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.
The Age
6 days ago
- Politics
- The Age
Octogenarian Victorians ousted from NSW Libs, but not before trying to block appointment of a woman
Federal Liberal Leader Sussan Ley and her NSW counterpart Mark Speakman have secured a major win in determining who will run the beleaguered state party, appointing a new committee headed by former premier Nick Greiner and ending the term of two octogenarian men from Victoria. Ley and Speakman's plan for the NSW Liberals was endorsed at a federal executive meeting 20 votes to one on Tuesday, a decision which will see the division remain in administration until March but with committee members handpicked by the two leaders. Ley chose former state MP Peta Seaton as her representative on the committee while Speakman nominated barrister and leading moderate Liberal Jane Buncle as his. The party's vice president, Berenice Walker, Peter O'Hanlon and James Owen will be on the committee, as well as Mark Baillie, who will serve as treasurer. Greiner and Seaton, who was the third member of the original intervention committee which included former Victorian treasurer Alan Stockdale and ex-Victorian senator Richard Alston, conducted the review of the party's 2023 state election loss. Loading The continuation of Stockdale and Alston on a committee running the NSW division was seen as untenable because both men were Victorian. Stockdale sealed the pair's fate when he made ill-thought-out comments to a meeting of the NSW Liberal Women's Council, in which he joked that women were now 'sufficiently assertive' that reverse quotas for men could be needed. Several Liberal sources with knowledge of Tuesday's meeting said Stockdale argued that Walker, who is president of the women's council, should not be on the new committee. At the same time, some Right-wing members were pushing for former prime minister Tony Abbott to be on the committee, but that was overwhelmingly opposed. The women's council was vocal in its criticism of the administration of the party under Stockdale and Alston, passing a motion of its executive on May 25 expressing 'our firm and formal opposition to any extension of the federal intervention'.
Sydney Morning Herald
6 days ago
- Politics
- Sydney Morning Herald
Octogenarian Victorians ousted from NSW Libs, but not before trying to block appointment of a woman
Federal Liberal Leader Sussan Ley and her NSW counterpart Mark Speakman have secured a major win in determining who will run the beleaguered state party, appointing a new committee headed by former premier Nick Greiner and ending the term of two octogenarian men from Victoria. Ley and Speakman's plan for the NSW Liberals was endorsed at a federal executive meeting 20 votes to one on Tuesday, a decision which will see the division remain in administration until March but with committee members handpicked by the two leaders. Ley chose former state MP Peta Seaton as her representative on the committee while Speakman nominated barrister and leading moderate Liberal Jane Buncle as his. The party's vice president, Berenice Walker, Peter O'Hanlon and James Owen will be on the committee, as well as Mark Baillie, who will serve as treasurer. Greiner and Seaton, who was the third member of the original intervention committee which included former Victorian treasurer Alan Stockdale and ex-Victorian senator Richard Alston, conducted the review of the party's 2023 state election loss. Loading The continuation of Stockdale and Alston on a committee running the NSW division was seen as untenable because both men were Victorian. Stockdale sealed the pair's fate when he made ill-thought-out comments to a meeting of the NSW Liberal Women's Council, in which he joked that women were now 'sufficiently assertive' that reverse quotas for men could be needed. Several Liberal sources with knowledge of Tuesday's meeting said Stockdale argued that Walker, who is president of the women's council, should not be on the new committee. At the same time, some Right-wing members were pushing for former prime minister Tony Abbott to be on the committee, but that was overwhelmingly opposed. The women's council was vocal in its criticism of the administration of the party under Stockdale and Alston, passing a motion of its executive on May 25 expressing 'our firm and formal opposition to any extension of the federal intervention'.
The Age
6 days ago
- Politics
- The Age
Australia news LIVE: G7 meeting begins with Trump Russian complaint; Airstrike hits Iran's TV network; Liberals set to dump Victorian elders
Latest posts Latest posts 6.34am Liberals set to dump elders over 'assertive women' remarks Max Maddison and Paul Sakkal The federal Liberal Party is preparing to dump the two octogenarian Victorians appointed to oversee the troubled NSW division, a fortnight after ex-Victorian treasurer Alan Stockdale questioned whether the prevalence of assertive women required protecting men. Under a draft plan conveyed by four senior Liberal sources, who all spoke on the condition of anonymity citing party rules barring speaking with the media, the administrative committee's term would expire on June 30. It would probably be replaced by a seven-person committee chaired by a Liberal luminary. The tenure of Stockdale and former Victorian senator Richard Alston, unpopular among a large section of NSW Liberals, appeared terminal after the former raised concerns about assertive women during a meeting of the party's women's council on June 3.
