The NSW Liberal Party has been denied a request to allow for extra time to submit its council election nominations after an administration blunder. The party’s state president, Don Harwin, sent a letter to the electoral commission requesting the extension.
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00:00Despite the party's council candidate catastrophe, the President of the NSW Liberals was all smiles.
00:08Mr Harwin, do you take any responsibility for the nominations debacle?
00:11There will be a statement later in the day about my application to the Electoral Commissioner.
00:15The Secretariat missed Wednesday's deadline to lodge nomination paperwork for about 140 council candidates,
00:22meaning Liberals will be absent from ballot papers in 16 local government areas at next month's elections.
00:28Why should you keep your job?
00:30State Director Richard Shields was sacked on Thursday night after blaming Mr Harwin for the fiasco.
00:36Some in the party want Mr Harwin's head.
00:39In an effort to salvage things, he wrote to the Electoral Commission asking for a week's extension of the nomination period.
00:45Do you think the Electoral Commission will agree to your request?
00:48Late today, the Commissioner denied the request.
00:52Some candidates are considering launching a class action against the Liberal Party for the loss of four years of councillor pay.
00:58They may have even spent money on core flukes and advertising.
01:02Now, those individuals are really suffering.
01:06Human rights lawyer George Newhouse is expecting advice from barristers early next week on whether there is a case to sue the party.
01:13It's a shambles and it's actually a disgrace in terms of democracy.
01:18The party's right faction has always wanted Mr Harwin gone.
01:21After all, the Moderate was elected President by single vote.
01:25The nomination's bungle is being seen as a chance to get rid of him, so the party's right can seize control.
01:31Ex-Premier Dominic Perrottet's former Deputy Chief of Staff, Monica Tudhope, was picked to stand in the seat of Epping,
01:37which he vacated this month for a job in the US.
01:40I want an opportunity to be able to continue the work that he started and make NSW a better place.
01:45The electorate was also once held by her father, Shadow Treasurer Damien Tudhope.
01:50The makings of a political dynasty in a party that's currently anything but a happy family.