Scott Morrison ally, Greek Australian former immigration minister Alex Hawke, is set to face expulsion from the Liberal party at an upcoming state council meeting.
The Artarmon branch of the Liberal party has put forward a motion accusing Hawke of delaying preselections, which harmed the chances of the Morrison government in the 2022 election.
The motion will be debated in October or November, coinciding with a potential preselection challenge for Hawke in his Sydney seat of Mitchell.
Before the 2022 election, Hawke was accused of failing to attend nomination review committee meetings, leading to delays in preselections.
This prompted an intervention from a three-person panel, including Morrison and then-premier Dominic Perrottet, who handpicked nine candidates just weeks before the election.
The move resulted in an unsuccessful legal challenge from party member Matthew Camenzuli, who was subsequently expelled.
Despite efforts by the state executive to impede Hawke’s expulsion, an urgency motion proposed at the last state council successfully added the motion to the agenda for the next council meeting.
A New South Wales Liberal source told the Guardian Australia Hawke was a “deeply unpopular figure” in the party but some fear the motion sets a “dangerous precedent” but there are concerns about setting a dangerous precedent by expelling him even if local members re-endorse his preselection.
The urgency motion, supported by some moderates and moved by the hard-right faction, passed with 224 votes in favor and 110 against.
This indicates that the push against Hawke has some viability, although the chances of it succeeding are seen as slim.
The complaint states that this brought negative publicity to the party and posed a serious risk to its electoral prospects and reputation.
Matthew Camenzuli, who was expelled from the party, requested that the party fulfill the promised preselections outlined in the NSW Liberal party constitution.
“To have been expelled for that I always thought somewhat surprising,” he told Guardian Australia.
“If the party wants to demonstrate they’re listening to members, and they’ve turned the corner, they should restore my membership and I’d happily go back into the party.
“Hawke has to take ownership of the role he played in that executive and in the party, in delay of preselections and … the spectacular loss in the 2022 election as a result of all sorts of things including this. Whether he remains a member is a matter for the party.”
The release of the robodebt report and adverse findings against Morrison, along with pressure within the party for his resignation, add to the tensions.
While there have been suggestions to amend the motion to also expel Morrison, this is deemed procedurally difficult or impossible.
Peter Dutton, the opposition leader, has urged the NSW Liberal party to finalise preselections early, responding to recommendations from the 2022 election review.
Cook, Morrison’s seat, was excluded from the directive due to expectations that Morrison would retire if he found a private sector job.
Colleagues anticipate Morrison delaying retirement and expect his exit closer to or at the next election.
In 2022, former Liberal senator Concetta Fierravanti-Wells called Morrison an “autocrat” and accused Hawke of “corrupt antics” during the preselection saga.
Morrison defended the intervention, claiming it protected women and multicultural candidates in their parliamentary aspirations.
Following the 2022 defeat, Dutton warned the NSW division against last-minute preselections on the eve of an election, deeming it “completely unacceptable.”
