A day after a paperwork mishap at New South Wales’ Liberal Party headquarters resulted in numerous party candidates being excluded from council ballots, federal leader Peter Dutton has expressed his “deep disappointment” at the issue.
“I hope they can resolve the issue, clearly an administrative error where the forms weren’t submitted on time,” Dutton told 2GB radio.
When asked about the party’s next steps, Dutton said discussions were underway.
“We need to ensure that a proper administrative process is established. They failed in that regard, and it’s extremely disappointing.”
In a surprising turn of events, eight local councils—including several in strong Liberal Party areas—will face statewide elections without a party candidate due to a failure to submit nominations by a Wednesday deadline.
An additional nine councils have only partial candidate coverage, reflecting what has been described as a significant oversight by the party.
By the time potential candidates discovered, it was too late for them to submit nominations for the September council elections.
Affected councils include Northern Beaches, Lane Cove, Camden, and Campbelltown in Sydney, as well as Cessnock, Wollongong, Shoalhaven, and Blue Mountains in regional areas. Several of these councils overlap with secure Liberal seats in the state parliament.
Opposition Leader Mark Speakman, frustrated by the situation, called for state party director Richard Shields to resign, labeling it “the worst act of mismanagement in the organisation’s history.”
He told reporters that it was a basic issue of competence and administration. “If you lack the resources to handle these nominations, you call for more. And if that’s still not enough, you let the candidates nominate themselves.”
While denying that this indicated the party had lost its direction, Speakman acknowledged that the “monumental blunder” would have lasting consequences.
“It’s well known that major parties often recruit state and federal candidates from local councils,” he said.
Mayor Shields attributed the error to a lack of resources and apologised to the Liberal-endorsed candidates who were not nominated. However, he resisted calls for his resignation on Aug. 15.
Over 4 million NSW voters will head to the polls on Sept. 14 to elect more than 1,000 councillors to local governments.
Deputy NSW Liberal Leader Natalie Ward criticised Shields, noting that his primary responsibilities were to manage the party constitution and electoral matters.
“He failed to notify others that assistance was needed,” she said.
