The NSW Liberal party has endorsed a compromise plan on preselection rules and has rejected the Warringah motion – a plan by the former prime minister Tony Abbott to give all party members a vote in preselections in their local electorates.
Abbott’s plan, which was put to the party in two parts, was defeated during a vote by the 500-plus delegates at the party’s annual general meeting at the Sydney Town Hall on afternoon. There were 216 votes in favour of it and 300 against.
In July last year, Abbott’s plan for much greater democracy in the party received resounding support among rank and file members attending the NSW Liberal party conference at Rosehill – nearly two-thirds of the members supported it. But it required endorsement by the party’s state council to take effect.
Since then, the moderate faction, which currently holds sway in the NSW Liberals, has been attempting to water it down, fearing the Warringah motion would lead to an outbreak of branch stacking, renewed tensions between the factions and undermine attempts to get more women into parliament.
The compromise – the Bennelong motion – which was supported by senior figures in the NSW moderates and the right – would still leave around 25% of the preselection vote to the state council and executive, giving party officials a voice in choosing candidates.
It does not allow party members to vote on candidates for the NSW upper house or the Senate. This will be done by the state council with a wider pool of participants.
Outside the AGM and before the vote, Abbott told reporters the Bennelong motion was a “rearguard action by factional warlords” that would delay reform and “put off real democracy”.
“A party that doesn’t trust its own members is hardly going to win the trust of the Australian people,” he said.
But party officials believed the Warringah motion went too far.
The prime minister, Malcolm Turnbull, and the NSW premier, Gladys Berejiklian, are understood to have supported the Bennelong alternative.
During his speech at the meeting, Turnbull embraced the idea of greater democracy in the Liberal party but also made reference to the need to get more women into safe and winnable seats.
“We must increase the number of women in our parliamentary teams,” he said.
“We are not a party of quotas, but we should not kid ourselves about this issue or push it to one side.”
Berejiklian also argued for an empowered party base, but supported the Bennelong alternative.
“We need you to feel more engaged and more empowered in all aspects of our party’s activities,” she said.
“There is absolutely no doubt that as a party we need to be more democratic and more inclusive.”
The compromise was part of a deal between the NSW minister and factional moderate powerbroker Matt Kean and the rightwing treasurer Dominic Perrottet.
Abbott and federal senator Jim Molan had tried to delay the vote but were not successful.