<?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1"?> <docID>326713</docID> <postdate>2024-08-15 11:50:03</postdate> <headline>‘Basic’ council stuff-up plunges Liberals into chaos</headline> <body><p><img class="size-full wp-image-326718" src="https://citynews.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/20240424149165413501-original-resized.jpg" alt="" width="900" height="601" /></p> <caption>Opposition Leader Mark Speakman slammed his party's nomination blunder in an email to colleagues. (Dan Himbrechts/AAP PHOTOS)</caption> <p><span class="kicker-line">By <strong>Samantha Lock</strong> and <strong>Luke Costin</strong> in Sydney</span></p> <p><strong>A paperwork debacle inside NSW Liberal headquarters has left no party candidates for people to vote for in a dozen areas and shows a lack of basic competence, senior figures say.</strong></p> <p>A string of councils - including several in party heartland - will go to upcoming statewide elections without a Liberal candidate on the ticket after the party failed to submit nominations by midday on Wednesday.</p> <p>Would-be candidates found out after it was too late to handle nominations for the September council poll themselves.</p> <p>Opposition Leader Mark Speakman called for party state director Richard Shields to fall on his sword after "the worst act of mismanagement that I can think of in the organisation's history" in an email to colleagues on Thursday.</p> <p>"It's a basic matter of competence and administration," Mr Speakman told reporters.</p> <p>"If you don't have the resources to handle these nominations, you call for more.</p> <p>"And if you're still not satisfied, there are enough resources, you let the candidates nominate themselves."</p> <p>While denying it was a sign the party had lost its way, Mr Speakman said the "monumental stuff-up" would have ongoing ramifications.</p> <p>"It's well known that major parties often draw from local councillors for state and federal candidates," he said.</p> <p>Bewildered deputy NSW Liberal leader Natalie Ward said the state director only had two jobs: administer the party constitution and administer electoral matters.</p> <p>"He didn't give appropriate notice that anybody else needed to help," the senior state MP said.</p> <p>Federal party leader Peter Dutton also expressed disappointment, adding he hoped the NSW branch could sort out the mess.</p> <p>"I would suggest there needs to be at least two resignations," he told Sydney radio 2GB.</p> <p>Northern Beaches, Lane Cove, Camden and Campbelltown councils are among those thought to be affected in Sydney, while voters might not be able to pick candidates in the regional local government areas of Wollongong, Shoalhaven and Blue Mountains.</p> <p>Several councils overlap with safe Liberal seats in the state parliament.</p> <p>The "unbelievable" blunder led Liberal Lane Cove mayor Scott Bennison to quit the party on Thursday.</p> <p>He will run as an independent in the upcoming election.</p> <p>"I'm just sick of all the factional rubbish that happens within the party," he told 2GB.</p> <p>Election analyst Ben Raue said the Liberals' shift into urban politics in recent decades had virtually wiped out the ranks of conservative councillors, meaning some councils did not really have right-wing alternative to take up the lead.</p> <p>"This is different to 2021, when there was some notice that the party wouldn't run, and thus allowed Liberals to run as independents or made room for parties like Our Local Community to thrive," he said.</p> <p>Mr Shields, a mayor, has blamed his mistake on a lack of resources and apologised to the Liberal-endorsed candidates who have not been nominated.</p> <p>But he had withstood calls for his resignation on Thursday morning.</p> <p>More than four million NSW voters will go to the polls on September 14, electing more than 1000 councillors to local government.</p> </body>