The Liberals’ preferred candidate to contest the federal seat of Warringah, barrister Jane Buncle, has withdrawn her nomination, leaving a right-aligned candidate described by one senior Liberal as “Tony Abbott 2.0” to attempt to wrest back the Sydney seat from independent Zali Steggall.
Buncle, who had been considered a frontrunner and had the support of the moderate faction, wrote to the New South Wales Liberal director Chris Stone to withdraw on Monday after the division again failed to resolve its impasse on preselections.
A rising star of the NSW bar, Buncle is said to have expressed concerns that without time to campaign she faced an uphill battle to win the northern beaches seat, which Steggall holds with margin of 7.2% after defeating Abbott in 2019.
Only one other nominated candidate remains. He is Lincoln Parker, a defence analyst, who is backed by the right faction.
Parker, a member of the Manly branch, has appeared on Sky News and written for the rightwing Falun Gong-backed newspaper the Epoch Times. He is also chair of the Liberal party’s defence and national security policy branch.
“He’s Tony Abbott 2.0. It’s completely the wrong look for the seat,” said one senior Liberal.
The NSW Liberal party is facing an ongoing crisis with eight key seats without candidates, just three months out from the federal election in May.
Despite nominations closing in May 2021, the NSW division has not held preselections or vetted candidates because of factional manoeuvring.
Two other candidates are also reported to have withdrawn their candidacies in the NSW central coast seat of Dobell: Pentecostal preacher Jemima Gleeson – the prime minister Scott Morrison’s pick – and cricketer Nathan Bracken. Labor holds the seat by just 1.5%, making it one of the Liberals’ most prospective.
Several other candidates had withdrawn from seeking preselection in Warringah in recent months as Morrison sought to entice a high-profile person, including former premiers Mike Baird and Gladys Berejiklian, to run.
But none could be found and this left Buncle the obvious frontrunner with the numbers. However, a failure to hold a plebiscite has left Buncle with only a limited time to campaign, and she is understood to have indicated that this made the task impossible.
Other members of the Warringah branch disputed this version of events, saying Parker would have won a competitive rank and file preselection and this had been a factor in Buncle’s decision to withdraw.
Regardless, Buncle’s withdrawal means Steggall now looks likely to hold the seat with the same or increased margin, local Liberals said.
Although it may be possible to reopen preselections, the move would be difficult and would require a rock star candidate to be put forward to gain the 90% support on the deeply divided state executive.
Steggall said the Liberal Party in-fighting was a prime example of why voters were turning to independents in the first place.
“This Liberals preselection mess shows everything that is wrong with party politics plain for all to see: a focus on power and ambition taking precedence over an actual desire to serve the community,” Stegall said.
“Communities need politicians that have the ability to focus on their interests, on delivering solutions to the challenges we face, and on maximising the opportunities we have as a nation.”
In Dobell, the remaining candidate is cardiologist Dr Michael Feneley, who has previously run as the Liberal candidate in Kingsford Smith. He is supported by the right and the moderates.
Attempts to endorse two ministers, Sussan Ley and Alex Hawke, and one sitting member, Trent Zimmerman, without a competitive preselection failed on Monday. It was a direct rejection of attempts by the prime minister’s office to at least solve part of the problem.
However, it would have weakened the right’s bargaining power and was rejected by both the moderates and the right.
A complicated, more comprehensive deal on the remaining eight seats remains on the table. It could be put to a vote later this week, but requires 90% support by the 27-member executive.
One insider said the chances of federal intervention were now 50/50. This would involve the branch effectively being dissolved and the federal office taking over the affairs of the NSW division.
This would almost certainly prompt a legal challenge from some members who are angered about the delays and the plan to parachute candidates into some branches and ignore the party’s new rules which give all branch members the right to participate in a plebiscite.
