Debnam knows Hawkesbury MP Steve Pringle was spot-on when he spoke of his conversations with preselectors installed by the hard-Right. Pringle told one paper:
I rang a large number of preselectors and they had absolutely no idea what I was talking about. They had no idea about the preselection, no idea about the Liberal Party.Four Corners viewers will recall the delightful Betty Habkouk’s conversation with Janine Cohen:
JANINE COHEN: Does anyone know what branch stacking is?The hard-Right have saturated branches with people with no interest in campaigning. During their long reign over the NSW Liberals, the Group also engaged in branch stacking. The difference was that Group stackers generally had some interest in politics and were happy stuffing letterboxes and handing out on polling day.
BETTY HABKOUK: I beg your pardon.
JANINE COHEN: Branch stacking. Never heard of it?
BETTY HABKOUK: No.
JANINE COHEN: Branch stacking is when people are encouraged to join the party but they never go to meetings.
BETTY HABKOUK: Oh, that sounds like us. We do that. We joined, but we don't go.
The Group were a formidable campaigning machine who helped any candidate regardless of factional affiliation. I witnessed the Young Liberal “flying squad” providing essential support in numerous campaigns – from Ross Cameron in Parramatta to Jackie Kelly in Lindsay (including her often nail-biting 1996 by-election). When editing the Young Right’s pro-Action magazine, I said and wrote nasty things over the years about the Group. That didn’t stop Senator Marise Payne’s office joining Tony Abbott’s Warringah Federal conference offering much needed assistance during my 2001 campaign in the Federal seat of Reid.
The current Young Libs are largely disinterested in campaigning. The old "flying squad" has been all but dismantled. The Communications Director spends much of his time defending Opus Dei and attacking non-Christian religions on the ozlibs e-mail group.
It’s one thing to be conservative. It’s another to be loopy. When factional hacks can only offer Peter Debnam with stackers ignorant and/or disinterested in politics, he can look forward to plenty more repeats of Pittwater.
Words © 2006 Irfan Yusuf
3 comments:
Fascinating to see you build poor old Marise into some sort of hero figure before she takes a fall, just so you can prove your point against a certain member of the NSW Upper House.
In the Melrose Place Young Liberal clique that Marise cultivated, promoted, and defended, Irfan was only allowed to contest an unwinnable seat, and Payne was allowed to become a Senator.
Marise Payne is a better man than Irfan Yusuf will ever be. For that reason she is a Senator and Irfan is just a fat black turd. Marise has a law degree but has never practiced law. Irfan has so few clients he can't be said to be a lawyer either. Irfan and Marise could get married. The world would be a better place if Marise wore a burka and Irfan could at least get some additional physical exercise bashing her like he bashes his mother. Marise can wear Irfan's Australian Football jersey which is no more insulting to the Australian nation than Irfan's continued presence in this country.
Law Student, anon @ 449 is probably a member of the NSW Young Lib exec. He probably thinks he is a Christian. But if Christ were to walk onto Cronulla beach, anon would be the first to scream "bash that f#cking Middle Eastern pr#ck!!".
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