By Alexandra Smith and Tom Rabe
The man whose preselection victory has derailed a female minister’s ambitions to be a future premier helped secure his shock win by pushing for small-scale nuclear reactors in every community as an alternative energy source.
Former Mike Baird staffer Matt Cross sensationally beat Roads Minister Natalie Ward in the preselection for the Liberal Party’s safest north shore seat on Monday night, despite Ward having the backing of Premier Dominic Perrottet and moderate powerbroker and Treasurer Matt Kean.
Roads Minister Natalie Ward (centre) sensationally missed out on preselection for a safe lower house seat.Credit: Rhett Wyman
Senior NSW Liberals now fear the failure of the party’s most senior woman to win preselection for an ultra-safe seat of Davidson is proof lessons have not been learnt from the federal election whitewash, leaving the Perrottet government further exposed to a teal threat.
One senior female Liberal, who is prevented from commenting publicly under the party’s constitution, said it would be “impossible” to encourage women to seek preselection when candidates like Ward were unsuccessful.
Ward wanted to move from the upper to the lower house to boost the number of Liberal women in that chamber which has slipped to just 10 but failed to convince branch members to back her.
Cross, who used his speech to preselectors to push for the Liberals to support nuclear power, has been working on replacing outgoing Davidson MP and Speaker Jonathan O’Dea for years. Sources with knowledge of his speech said Cross suggested reactors could be in every suburb to lower energy prices.
He cited federal Liberal leader Peter Dutton, who has called for a debate on nuclear energy as a way to provide reliable power with no carbon emissions.
Liberal candidate for Davidson Matt Cross with former Liberal premier Nick Greiner.
One senior party source not permitted to comment on the preselection said pushing nuclear power could leave the party open to a scare campaign from teal candidates in Sydney’s north. Cross, who also name-checked former prime minister Tony Abbott, is aligned with the moderate faction.
The source said: “This preselection result highlights how out of touch the membership is with the community.” Another said: “I wonder what the voters in Lindfield would think about a nuclear reactor in their community.”
Perrottet, who called preselectors to offer his support for Ward before the vote, on Tuesday borrowed a line from a Mexican food advertisement when asked about her loss, and the implications on the party, which is trying to attract more female representation.
“Natalie remains in the upper house, she remains a strong contributor to the team. As they say in the Old El Paso ads ‘porque no los dos?’, ‘why not both?’ That’s exactly what we have,” he said.
“Natalie is a leading light, she’s a future leader of the Liberal Party, and she’ll continue to make a strong contribution.”
New party president Maria Kovacic said, “Davidson selectors faced a choice between two outstanding people” and she looked forward to Cross and Ward working together in parliament.
Deputy Liberal leader Sussan Ley is reportedly outraged at a move to expel a group of elderly members from the party.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen
“We continue to encourage and support women putting themselves forward for the judgment of voters at preselections and elections,” Kovacic said.
As the party struggles to install strong women into safe seats throughout Sydney, elderly Liberal Party members face expulsion from a branch in southern NSW amid an internal feud.
An email from newly elected Farrer federal electorate council president Noel Wilson, obtained by the Herald, says seven members, including several elderly women, were facing expulsion from the Deniliquin branch.
Wilson was elected president of the Farrer federal electorate council earlier this month, narrowly beating right-wing figure Christian Ellis, who mounted a preselection challenge against sitting Liberal MP and now deputy federal leader Sussan Ley ahead of this year’s May election.
In his November 10 email, Wilson expressed his disgust at the move to expel Liberal branch members, which he said seemed to be punishment based on who they supported.
“Some of these members are in their 70s and 80s and have clearly led distinguished lives in service to their communities. They are well-respected, upstanding community leaders who we need in our Liberal Party,” he said.
Wilson said he had raised the issue with Ley, “who is equally outraged about this”.
A senior Liberal Party figure lamented that four of the seven Liberal party members who faced expulsion were women.
“The NSW Liberal Party is imploding – instead of learning the lessons from the federal and Victorian state elections, they are doubling down on the mistakes,” they said.
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