NSW Liberals accuse electoral commission of breaking rules after council nomination debacle
The New South Wales Liberal party has accused the state’s electoral commission of breaching regulations and says it will be left with “no other option” than to take legal action if it isn’t given more time to nominate all its council candidates.
But the acting electoral commissioner, Matthew Phillips, on Sunday rejected the party’s second request for an extension. He said he did not consider it a “realistic possibility” that Liberal HQ could have been unaware of the nomination deadline, and added it would “not be appropriate” to change the election process.
The Liberal party’s state president, Don Harwin, had asked for a weeklong extension to lodge nominations for more than 130 candidates for the 14 September local government elections, after the party missed last Wednesday’s deadline.
Phillips knocked back Harwin’s first request for an extension on Saturday. He did not publicly disclose his reasons for the decision at the time.
The Liberal party then issued a statement on Sunday threatening legal action. It argued the commission had breached election regulations by only providing five days of official notice before the close of nominations, instead of the necessary seven.
“This mistake is not just a technicality—it goes to the heart of ensuring a fair and transparent election,” the party said.
“Despite acknowledging this error, the NSW electoral commission has chosen not to extend the nomination deadline by seven days, a simple remedy well within its powers under clause 286 of the same regulation.”
The party urged Phillips to reconsider.
“Should the NSW electoral commission fail to act, the Liberal party of Australia NSW Division will be left with no other option but to pursue legal avenues to compel it to extend the nomination deadline.”
The electoral commission responded in its own statement later on Sunday, saying Phillips had told the Liberal party his position hadn’t changed.
“On the basis of the available information, the commissioner was not satisfied that it is possible to lawfully extend the nomination period in line with the request,” the commission statement said. “And even if it were, it would not be appropriate to do so given the very significant ramifications it would have for the conduct of the elections.”
The commission said it accepted the formal election notice was published on the commission’s website five days before close of nominations but the nomination date had already been widely publicised and communicated to parties.
“The commissioner does not consider there could have been a realistic possibility that officials of the New South Wales Division of the Liberal Party of Australia, or persons proposing to run as candidates endorsed by that party, could have been unaware of the nomination day or of the processes by which nominations could be made,” it said.
The catastrophic administrative error has left eight local councils without any Liberal candidates – including several in party heartland – and another eight councils with only some of the intended candidates.
The premier, Chris Minns, on Sunday said he didn’t know whether the Liberals would have any grounds for a legal challenge.
“I’ve got no idea. It’s obviously up to them if they want to take up that supreme court appeal,” he said.
Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup
Minns said the state’s electoral commission had made the right call in rejecting the Liberals’ request for more time.
“It’s very important that we’ve got an independent umpire here ... it’s not, I
don’t think, appropriate for major political parties to referee their own game,” he said.
“I think the correct decision was made. It’s pretty fundamental. You can’t change the rules after the game’s begun. So I support his decision, but I would have accepted it if he’d made the opposite call as well.”
The Liberal party has promised it is “thoroughly investigating” the administrative disaster after sacking its state director, Richard Shields, at an emergency meeting on Thursday night.
Shields had until then resisted calls for his resignation. He said his focus been on the upcoming federal election, and that Harwin had volunteered to run the local government election process.
The former NSW Liberal premier Mike Baird on Sunday said the mistake was “hard to believe” and must “never happen again”.
“For me, when I think of administrative challenges or stuff-ups, this is right at the top of the list,” he said.
“How it happened, I don’t know ... There is talk of an independent inquiry - I support that.”
The Northern Beaches, Lane Cove, Camden and Campbelltown councils are among those affected in Sydney, along with regional councils in Cessnock, Wollongong and the Blue Mountains.