Key Points
- A federal takeover of the LIberal Party's NSW branch was announced on Tuesday.
- But one of three men identified to administer the branch said he was unaware he had been chosen and couldn't take up the role.
- Anthony Albanese called the confusion surrounding the takeover a "farce".
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has criticised the Liberal Party over confusion surrounding a federal takeover of its NSW branch, with Opposition leader Peter Dutton also weighing in.
The takeover, which will last for 10 months, follows the NSW branch's failure last month to nominate 140 candidates for 16 councils in local government elections in September, due to a missed deadline to submit paperwork.
The federal takeover was announced on Tuesday, but one of three men identified to administer the branch, former NSW MP Rob Stokes, said that evening he was unaware he had been chosen and couldn't take up the role.
"I mean this is a farce," Albanese said on Wednesday.
"If the NSW leadership of the Liberal Party has been dismissed for incompetence, how about you dismiss the federal leadership of the Liberal Party in the organisation sense for incompetence for appointing someone as an administrator who is not available and didn’t know anything about it."
The NSW state director of the Liberal Party, Richard Shields, was sacked for failing to nominate the local council candidates in time.
Dutton, the leader of the Liberal Party, blamed the confusion on his party's NSW division.
"The way that [our party] was operating was completely unacceptable to me," Dutton said.
He defended the federal takeover as something their party needed "to be functional", adding: "We took a decision at the federal executive to put in place a council of wise elders."
Three senior Liberals were requested to take over as administrators for the state branch — former Victorian state treasurer Alan Stockdale, former Victorian senator Richard Alston and Stokes.
NSW Opposition leader Mark Speakman admitted that identifying Stokes as one of the figures to oversee the takeover had hit a "hitch".
Although Dutton said Stokes was "put forward by the NSW division" to oversee the federal takeover, Stokes immediately backed out after being named, stating that he was unaware that he was picked and was "not in a position to accept".
NSW Leader of the Opposition Mark Speakman said identifying Stokes as one of the figures to oversee the takeover had hit a "hitch". Source: AAP / Bianca de Marchi
"It was before the federal executive's meeting [on Tuesday] [that] he indicated to me a happiness to serve and I conveyed that to federal identities," Speakman said.
"What has changed is he was never consulted about what the makeup of the committee would be or what the complete role would be, and a formal invitation to him was never put."
