EXCLUSIVE: ‘Her career would be totally finished’: Senior SA Lib issues threat over Presidency fight
A senior Liberal backing rebel Senator Alex Antic in his bid to snatch the SA branch presidency has issued a harsh warning to the current leader.
The moderate faction of the South Australian Liberals is “desperately scrounging around” for a candidate to run against conservative Senator Alex Antic for the Presidency of the state party, a senior SA Liberal source told InDaily.
And current President and South Australian Senator Leah Blyth has been given a terse threat over standing for the role again, the senior party source who refused to be named saying “There is no Blyth and Antic tussle, because Blyth’s career would be totally finished if there was one”.
“I think she’d be the shortest serving Liberal Senator from South Australia if that were to happen, and so isn’t going to,” the source said.
Blyth is in the conservative faction, she won a spot in the federal senate in 2025 and has been President of the Liberal Party of Australia (SA Division) since August 2024.
Controversy has erupted on the national stage in recent weeks over who will be elected as the state’s new president at the party’s August 29 Annual General Meeting.
Federal Leader Angus Taylor is yet to reveal if he is backing Blyth or Antic who has said One Nation “are not enemies” and left the door open to a defection in the past.
Yesterday, the party’s Federal Leader Angus Taylor hosted a small business event in Adelaide with Blyth by his side but would not be drawn on the issue. This followed Taylor publicly slapping down conservative Antic over a string of controversial remarks about One Nation.
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Conservative backbencher Antic, who was pictured during the SA Election campaign at The Exeter Hotel with One Nation’s Cory Bernardi, was not at the Taylor function.
When InDaily asked Antic why he did not attend the business event this week with Taylor, Antic refused to comment unless this publication disclosed details around government funding for this masthead’s parent company, Solstice Media.
While Taylor is yet to say who he is backing as SA Liberal President, former SA Liberal and conservative MP Nicolle Flint was also understood to be considering running for the position, though this was disputed by the source.
Now, the Liberal source said that Blyth was “being used as a pawn by the [Christopher] Pyne/[Anne] Ruston Left, who are desperately scrounging around for a candidate to run”.
“They cannot find anyone,” the source said.
“Flint backed out when they lost control of the Sturt Branch, and Anne Ruston and poor factional henchman Sam Hooper keep asking people, and they keep saying no.
“There is currently a very high chance that Senator Antic faces no challenger at the AGM.”
Pyne is a former Liberal Defence Minister and Ruston is currently the party’s most senior Liberal in Canberra, she is Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the Senate and Shadow Minister for Health and Aged Care.
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Antic, Ruston and Blyth were all contacted for comment.
When Antic was linked to comments about the SA Liberal Party merging with One Nation’s state branch Taylor said: “That will not be happening; I can assure you of that”.
The Liberal source said: “On the numbers, a One Nation merger is impossible”.
“The Party Constitution requires a supermajority to change it,” the source said.
“And that’s before you get to the property, assets and cash, which is all in a trust and controlled by three trustees.”
The latest controversy comes after InDaily reported that Playford Mayor Glenn Docherty resigned as SA Liberal Vice President in December and then quit the party in late February in the midst of state election planning.
Docherty has been a Liberal member since 2002 and was elected as one of four vice presidents of the SA Liberals at the party’s 2024 AGM, he resigned saying he wanted to focus instead on upcoming local government elections that were expected later this year.
Docherty previously worked as a casual electorate officer for conservative SA federal Liberal Senator Alex Antic.
His decision also followed the resignation of another long-term Liberal Party executive leader, Lachlan Haynes, who quit his federal and state executive roles on December 15 last year.
As reported by InDaily, his resignation followed what was believed to be a surprise lack of support in his bid for the southeast seat of MacKillop, members instead voting to support Robe resident Rebekah Rosser.
Editor’s Note: InDaily is a beneficiary of the Federal Government’s Journalism Assistance Fund introduced by the Liberal Morrison Government and continued by the Labor Albanese Government.
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