Peter Law: Rules battle shows why the inward-looking WA Liberals face a long road back

Just when you think the WA Liberals have picked their party off the floor and started to make themselves look presentable, they somehow find a way to drag themselves back down again.

As a political journalist in a State where Mark McGowan and Labor wield enormous power, it has become standard practice to think twice before spending too much time scrutinising their far weaker opponents.

But there are occasions when information is brought to our attention that deserves wider exposure. Sure, we in the media get a headline out of it, but the reporting might also help save the Liberals from themselves.

This weekend’s meeting of the WA Liberal Party State Council and Executive is one of those occasions.

On the agenda is a raft of proposed rule changes which, if adopted, threaten to make the party even less appealing to West Australians considering putting their hands up to be Liberal candidates at the 2025 Federal and State elections.

The most controversial of these proposals was drafted in part as a reaction to an otherwise unremarkable incident at a State Council meeting on June 11.

As recently reported, Liberal Senator Dean Smith stood up at the meeting and criticised a report given by the chair of the party’s campaign committee, Michelle Hofmann, in the wake of the disastrous Federal election result.

A motion before State Executive now calls for Smith to be cautioned for his “negative and berating remarks”, expresses disappointment at his “tone and manner” and warns any repeat may be referred to the party’s Appeals and Disciplinary Committee — which could lead to expulsion.

“We need women to participate in the party, it is unacceptable when middle-aged men use their position, obvious strength of voice and anger when they are given the floor to single out and berate a young woman,” the motion put forward by Tim Houweling, chair of the Liberal Party’s powerful Constitutional and Drafting Committee, states.

The West understands the debrief delivered by Hofmann, a candidate at the 2021 State election, left some Liberals unimpressed because it lacked detailed analysis over why voters deserted the party in such big numbers in WA.

Smith’s alleged crime was to articulate this criticism in front of party colleagues and this week it emerged that in response, the C&D Committee chaired by Houweling (who also heads the disciplinary committee) wants to “put in place structures that encourage a higher standard of conduct of elected members”.

It has put forward a second motion that would establish a new committee to develop a beefed-up deed to be signed by candidates that aims to hold them accountable on key performance indicators and adherence to party values if they get elected.

But the idea goes further than just performance management of MPs — which was supported at July’s State Conference — by proposing a way to force their resignation from Parliament if they are later deemed by the party to be “not a fit and proper person”.

It suggests this could be done by requiring candidates to pre-sign a letter of resignation that would be “held in escrow and may be tendered if the person refuses to resign from Parliament”.

In other words, if you want to stand as a Liberal candidate you must first sign a letter of resignation in advance that can later be used by the party to force a democratically elected politician out of Parliament.

It begs the question: Why would any intelligent, capable person put their hand up to be a Liberal candidate if these rules were adopted?

One Liberal likened the plan to having “a guillotine hanging over everyone’s head” and described it as an attempt to “weaponise” the party’s internal disciplinary processes.

Another doubted the proposal was lawful or even constitutional and said that, unsurprisingly, it was not widely supported by what remains of the party’s parliamentary teams.

Meanwhile, 14 pages of proposed changes to party rules will separately be considered by State Council that have the obvious aim of stopping Liberals from leaking to the media.

This includes a ban on any party member — except the State director or president — from speaking to the media (in any form) or making any public statement (including on social media) on any “party matter”.

The definition of a “party matter” would be expanded to mean “any information, knowledge, understanding or awareness of anything because of, or as a result of, membership of the party, whether or not that matter is secret or made public by any other person”.

So much for being the party of free speech.

These internal battles are a sideshow and distraction from the main game, which is starting the long road back to government.

The sooner the Liberals stop looking inwards and put their effort into acting like a viable alternative — one with credible policies and candidates — the better it is for democracy in WA.

Peter Law is State Political Editor