Why is SA’s Liberal leader washing her hands of party president brawl?
Ugly scuffles over the SA Liberal Party presidency are spilling into the public arena, Mike Smithson examines Ashton Hurn’s hands off response.
The month of August has finally arrived and that means the SA Liberals will soon be electing new office bearers.
It’s hoped these people will take them into a new age where their political party is capable of being elected.
In accordance with the Liberal constitution, all the top jobs are up for grabs all the way down to those elected to specialist committees.
Parliamentary leader Ashton Hurn has been widely reported as not publicly backing the red hot, but contentious and likely nomination of firebrand conservative Senator Alex Antic as party president.
But why should she?
Whether she likes Antic, which she probably doesn’t particularly, there’s no reason for her to nail any colours to the mast, still weeks out from the party’s membership vote.
Antic is unlikely to be the only candidate, but until nominations close, Hurn’s opinion counts for nothing.
Surely, she would need to see the full field on offer before indicating a favoured preference, even if she had one.
The contenders could change over coming weeks, so what’s the point of locking into Antic, or anyone else, at this point?
Rumblings from within the party are that the moderates and those described as “sensible” conservatives have joined forces to coax an alternative to step forward, for one, reports repeatedly throwing former Foreign Affairs Minister Alexander Downer into the mix.
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So, Antic supporters may have a fight on their hands when the vote is cast, and a new president is chosen.
Hurn became bogged down in the presidency issue on her return to the front line after a well-deserved two-week break, as part of her statutory annual leave.
She had a cut through opportunity as the week progressed and the Premier jetted off to America in a bid to shore up LIV golf and other important international matters.
On Thursday, she was campaigning for payroll tax reform for at least the 14th time since the March state election.
Hurn was confronted with an allegation of physical threats being made by an Antic supporter towards a party member.
The Opposition Leader acknowledged that any such threats should be taken incredibly seriously but that’s where her involvement in the party’s immediate future hit a full stop.
The party’s state director later told InDaily that no threat of violence had been reported, or any complaint lodged with the party by the alleged victim. But today, InDaily‘s David Simmons reports that the Australian Federal Police have confirmed a complaint saying “the AFP has investigated the matter and determined it does not meet the threshold for a criminal offence”.
Hurn’s visit to a major Adelaide electrical goods retailer was her main game rather than a squabble in the Liberal head office.
“At the end of the day, people like Con (the business owner) and others, are not focussed on the internal workings of the Liberal Party,” she said.
“They’re making sure they want a parliamentary leader, in particular, who’s focussed on putting forward solutions for the state.
“The party will come together in about a month to, not only elect a president, but a vice president, policy committees, constitutional committee and the like, so nominations are still open.
“Businesses and families across the state don’t give two hoots about the internal workings of the Liberal Party.”
Hurn hasn’t, and won’t, give running commentaries on the administrative wing of her party because she doesn’t need to.
But she knows its future direction is badly in need of new blood as party president, but not necessarily Senator Antic.
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Such a position has often relied on relics of the past who’ve left parliament and need some form of semi-retirement activity.
Those with the right presidential leadership qualities are often hard to find, as their behind-closed-door discussions are usually mired in factional turmoil.
In which case, you might well say, God save the King because nothing will save the SA Liberal Party.
But coming from a pragmatic viewpoint, my last conversation with the traditionally media shy Antic gave me some clarity.
He was on the 7News election night coverage as a specialist panellist watching the Liberal disaster unfold.
Tensions had been running high between him and veteran moderate Christopher Pyne, who was also on the adjoining panel.
Pyne had heaped praise on Hurn’s election efforts despite the party’s woeful performance.
That came as no surprise as Hurn is a former staffer of Pyne and a political protégé.
When I pressed Antic, live on air, on his future Hurn support, if he was to become party president, he gave her 100 per cent support.
He concurred with Pyne that she was the best person for the job under extremely difficult circumstances.
There was no suggestion that a conservative party leader would be contemplated, not that there are too many likely options on offer.
Antic’s views are hard to read, but now that it’s come to the business end with him poised to become president, will he stick to his election night comments?
Potentially volatile weeks are ahead in the Liberal camp, and its headquarters will try to prevent it from becoming a leaky boat if disagreements arise.
Labor will try to make plenty of the Antic factor, as it always does, but Hurn will keep a sharp focus on the state and the economy.
She has little to lose in the leadup to the internal election process and is smart enough to watch it closely without being sucked into a vortex of factional posturing or damage control.
Watch this space for the closing of nominations and to see whether Antic, if he nominates, is challenged by a name we weren’t expecting.
There’s someone being worked on, but no one in the know wants to spill the beans.
The party has a lot riding on the right outcome.
Mike Smithson is weekend newsreader and political analyst for 7News.
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