The state opposition leader told Peter Dutton that any attempt to take over the NSW Liberal branch would be "premature." In Canberra, politicians are nervous about the effectiveness of the party machine after last week’s council nomination blunder. NSW opposition leader Mark Speakman says there is time to sort out the mess. Even if that involved legal action.
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00:00As the government celebrated the opening of the Metro, the Liberals were out reminding voters who funded it.
00:08It would never have been built under Labor.
00:10Transformational coalition infrastructure.
00:13Advertising was printed and a massive moving billboard arranged to arrive right on cue.
00:19But the opposition leader still thinks the party's organisational powers failed when it really counted.
00:25It is beyond my comprehension. It is beyond my comprehension.
00:29Despite blaming head office for its failure to nominate about 140 candidates for council elections,
00:35he's backing a legal challenge to try to get an extension from the Electoral Commission.
00:40This is not shirking responsibility for what happened last week,
00:46but we owe it to our party members to explore any opportunities there might be legally to rectify this situation.
00:55Does anyone truly believe that we would be working around the clock
00:59to get an independent or minor party or a Green party or someone from the crossbench
01:04onto a ballot paper if they forgot to nominate? It's just not believable.
01:08After the sacking of State Secretary Richard Shields,
01:11party president Don Harwin is defying internal calls for his resignation.
01:16So far, he has the leaders backing.
01:18I haven't seen any evidence that Mr Harwin is implicated in the mistakes that were made last week
01:24with the nomination process.
01:26Watching all of this unfold is a nervous federal Liberal party.
01:30With an election on the horizon, its powerful executive will meet next month
01:34to consider intervening in the NSW branch.
01:37Mark Speakman says he's talked to Peter Dutton twice in the past week,
01:41but he's asking for a reprieve.
01:43Well, I think it's premature at the moment.
01:45But with two state by-elections looming, he says the party needs to get in shape.
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