A federal takeover of the South Australian Liberals should be “seriously considered”, the party’s former state leader says, amid concerns of a surge in “populist ideology around right-wing issues” within the state division.
David Speirs said he “canvassed” the idea of placing the SA Liberal branch into federal administration with several colleagues before he stepped down as SA Liberal leader last month.
The now backbencher, who is factionally unaligned, said he was concerned that the SA Liberals had been pulled too far to the right and decisions had been made that were not in the best interests of the party.
“This push from not even a right-wing ideology, but more of a populist ideology around right-wing issues … would see branches taken over, would impact preselections and would see decisions made to benefit individuals that probably weren’t in the best interests of the party,” Mr Speirs told ABC Radio Adelaide.
“A federal intervention, putting the party into administration, appointing a group of perhaps elder statespeople who have served within senior roles within the party to actually make decisions that are in the best interests of the party and consequently South Australia — I have sympathy for that approach.
“That is something that should be seriously considered.”
On Tuesday, the Liberals’ federal executive launched an intervention into the New South Wales division, following its failure to nominate 140 candidates for the state’s upcoming local elections.
Mr Speirs said the problems confronting the SA Liberals were “as bad if not worse” than the NSW branch.
“I saw the party stuck in a decision-making swamp, really, where it couldn’t make decisions that were in the best interests … in the party’s interests around timing of preselections,” he said.
Last month, the SA Liberals’ moderate-aligned state director Alex May resigned, with conservative Alexander Hyde appointed interim director.
Mr Hyde declined to respond to Mr Speirs’ comments.
Tarzia says federal intervention is laughable
Mr Speirs’s successor, Vincent Tarzia, said he found the suggestion of a federal intervention “laughable”.
“It’s obviously very unfortunate what’s happening interstate but here in South Australia, we’ve got a very functional division,” he said.
When asked about Mr Speirs’s comments about the party’s shift to the right, Mr Tarzia said the Liberals were “a broad church here in South Australia”.
“I think we do better and best as a party when we do consult with the more progressive wing, and also the conservative wing of the party,” he said.
Campaigning in Adelaide on Thursday, former prime minister John Howard condemned the factionalism in the party.
“I will say this about my party, and that is there is too much factionalism, and it is true of the South Australian division, it’s true of the New South Wales division,” Mr Howard said.
“Factionalism around policy difference is one thing, but factionalism, which is no more than the competition between different preferment co-operatives, is bad.”
Mr Speirs’s comments are the latest in a series of remarks about the Liberal Party since he stepped down as leader.
After returning from a family holiday to Scotland earlier this week, he raised concerns that the party could go backwards at the next election, adding there had been a “level of shambolic-ness” about the Liberals since he left the leadership.
Mr Tarzia did not agree with the characterisation.
“I’ve had a really good chat to David Speirs,” he said in a Stateline interview with ABC News.
“A really productive discussion. I’m really glad that David is going to stay in the party. And, of course, we’ll find a role for David to play.”
Mr Tarzia said he did not regret leaving the former leader out of his shadow cabinet line-up and denied that their relationship was fractured.
“These things are challenging. Every time that there’s a change in leadership … these things are very challenging,” he said.
“But I still consider David a friend. We were elected on the same day.”
Mr Speirs said he did not expect Mr Tarzia would take over as leader following his decision to quit last month, and that he had wanted deputy John Gardner to succeed him.
“For me, this isn’t about Vincent Tarzia,” he said on ABC Radio Adelaide on Friday.
“It’s much bigger than that. It’s about making sure that there’s a coherent opposition, an effective Liberal Party, that can be part of the battle of ideas.”