The NSW Liberal Party has made a desperate move to stop a potentially disastrous outcome in upcoming council elections after a stunning bureaucratic failure led them to miss a nomination deadline for candidates.
State Liberal Party president Don Harwin has reportedly written to the NSW Electoral Commission requesting a one-week extension in the nomination period to give the party more time to submit the necessary paperwork.
The ABC reports the commissioner has received the letter and is now ‘considering’ it.
The Party missed a noon Wednesday deadline to nominate up to 140 candidates for next month’s elections in a dramatic administrative blunder that has left Liberals fuming.
It’s understood no Liberal candidates will run in the Blue Mountains, Camden, Campbelltown, Lane Cove, Northern Beaches, Shoalhaven and Wollongong local council elections.
Meanwhile only partial nominations were submitted for Canterbury-Bankstown, Georges River, Maitland, North Sydney and Penrith.
State director Richard Shields was sacked on Thursday night in the fallout.
Liberal strategists are also concerned the stuff-up at the local level could affect federal politics.
State Liberal Party president Don Harwin has reportedly written to the NSW Electoral Commission requesting a one-week extension
One senior Liberal figure said a lack of presence at the September 14 council elections would affect the party’s federal chances next year.
This is specially the case in marginal federal seats the Liberals must either win or retain to take power.
The insider cited Georges River Council, which sits in the Banks seat and is held by Liberal MP David Coleman on a 3.2 per cent margin.
The party will also be looking at winning back the Liberal-turned-Teal seat of Mackellar, which takes in the Northern Beaches Council, as well as retaining Lindsay, which includes Penrith City Council.
Senior Liberals are worried the incredible blunder could hurt their party’s chances in next year’s federal election
Gilmore, which includes the Shoalhaven City Council, is another key electorate.
Labor’s Fiona Phillips turned the seat red in the 2022 federal election, however, it sits on an ultra-slim 0.2 per cent margin.
The seat will be contested by former NSW transport minister Andrew Constance next year.
