Mark Speakman Calls for Liberal Director's Resignation Over Election Mistake
- NSW Liberal director urged to resign by Mark Speakman.
- Party criticized for failing to nominate key candidates for council elections.
- Calls for Director Richard Shields to step down.
The Liberal Party has missed the deadline to submit candidate nominations for the upcoming local elections on September 14, resulting in no candidates for eight councils in Greater Sydney and regional New South Wales. While the party managed to partially nominate candidates in some areas, such as Canterbury-Bankstown, the overall situation has been described as a significant debacle. NSW Liberal leader, Chris Speakman, has publicly attributed the failure to party official Shields, who leads the Liberal secretariat responsible for candidate nominations. Speakman confirmed discussions regarding Shields' resignation with federal opposition leader Peter Dutton, emphasizing the embarrassment felt within the party over the situation. Shields has defended the party's actions, citing a lack of resources as the reason for the failure to nominate candidates in all proposed local government areas. His comments came as the NSW Electoral Commission prepared to release the full list of candidates, with analysts predicting the fallout from this error could be more severe than initially anticipated. Deputy Liberal leader Natalie Ward expressed her anger on behalf of affected candidates and party members, calling the situation unacceptable. She stressed the need for improved administrative processes to prevent such issues in the future. As the party grapples with this crisis, questions remain about potential legal actions from candidates who were unable to secure nominations due to the oversight.