Tony Abbott motion defeated, Turnbull’s carried at Liberal state council
The NSW Liberal Party has dealt a blow to Tony Abbott’s push to adopt a plebiscite model for party preselection, instead backing a rival proposal put forward by Malcolm Turnbull and Mike Baird.
The former prime minister refused to withdraw his motion before the NSW division’s State Council this morning in favour of one backed by the Prime Minister and the NSW Premier, with his plan defeated 246 to 174.
Mr Turnbull’s proposal, which calls for a plan to be formulated by the party and debated at a convention to be held in the first half of next year, was passed unanimously.
Addressing the meeting, Mr Turnbull said that the plan would move the party toward “transparent delegate selection and preselection … in which all members can participate” and rebuild membership numbers.
“We can do it again by engagement, by reaching out, by ensuing every person who thinks they agree with our principles and policies, every one of them knows that they will have a say, their voice will be respected, their voice will be heard; that is the critical step in the modernisation of our great party,” he said.
The rejection of Mr Abbott’s motion comes amid continuing tensions in the party, with a key ally of the former prime minister, former employment minister Eric Abetz, criticising Mr Turnbull’s approach to workplace policy in a speech delivered to the conservative H.R. Nicholls Society last night.
That followed a public clash between Mr Turnbull’s and Mr Abbott’s camps over the “guns for votes” row this week.
Mr Baird, Scott Morrison, Urban Infrastructure Minister Paul Fletcher and Julian Leeser spoke in favour of the compromise motion at the meeting in Sydney this morning, while Mr Abbott’s plan was backed by Assistant Cities Minister Angus Taylor.
Assistant Industry Minister Craig Laundy and the former state government whip Peter Phelps spoke against Mr Abbott’s proposal, as did North Sydney MP Trent Zimmerman.
Mr Abbott, speaking after the vote, said he was “very, very encouraged” that democratic reforms were now on the table.
“The important thing is that reform is now unstoppable, reform is coming, it is coming and clearly we can’t have true reform without one member, one vote,” he said.
Yesterday he told The Weekend Australian that it would be “a big, big mistake for the Liberal Party to vote down” his proposal.
That plan, the so-called Warringah motion, would have amended the party’s constitution to allow every financial member a vote in the selection of federal and state election candidates, and a vote to elect members of the party’s executive.
The NSW Liberals are currently controlled overwhelmingly by a coalition of the party’s moderate and centre right wings, who were instrumental in drafting the compromise motion backed by Mr Turnbull and Mr Baird.
The convention to be held next year is set to consider wider issues than the divisive question of plebiscites, including ways to encourage women to enter the party and parliament, and how to increase members’ involvement in policy and improve the party’s fundraising capability after its parlous financial state during the last federal election.
