Deputy federal Liberal leader Sussan Ley was the target of a branch-stacking operation organised by a party powerbroker who wanted her seat, an inquiry has been told.
Shirlee Burge, a councillor and Liberal Party member based in Deniliquin, told a NSW parliamentary inquiry she met party operative Christian Ellis in late 2020 or early 2021 after branch members complained about an “unusual influx” of new members.
“We met for coffee, where he informed me he had political aspirations and wished to be the next federal member for Farrer,” she said on Thursday.
Cr Burge said she suggested he follow around the local MP, Ms Ley, for 12 months to learn the ropes and get to know the electorate in the NSW Riverina region.
“He refused and said, and I quote, ‘I want it now, I’m not waiting’,” she told the inquiry.
“He was adamant that he didn’t want that, he wanted to be straight away the federal member.”
The local branch had jumped in size from 11 members to 45 since 2019 and the now-dominant Ellis faction was calling for the expulsion of seven “hardworking, hearty, loyal” members, she said.
“It was well known that in the branch Christian Ellis probably had the numbers, and probably still does,” she said.
“I thought the whole thing was untoward, not normal, it appeared to me branch-stacking and how that goes about – I think it happens in all parties.”
Members previously had each others’ email addresses but they were now solely in the hands of the branch executive, she added.
Cr Burge said she would not renew her party membership.
The inquiry began in December after state Liberal MP Ray Williams used parliamentary privilege to allege senior party members were paid to install developer-friendly councillors onto The Hills Shire Council in Sydney.
Mr Ellis and his mother Virginia Ellis, a Hills councillor, were both summonsed to appear as witnesses but have so far avoided service by private process servers.
The inquiry’s attempt to call two brothers of NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet has led him to dub it “a political stunt by the Labor Party”.
Jean-Claude Perrottet, 26, on Tuesday told the committee he was overseas and would not appear, while stating it was clear he would “never receive procedural fairness” at the inquiry.
“False” allegations against him had been politicised and calls for the public to report his whereabouts had compounded his stress and placed his fiancee and their families in harm’s way, he said.
The letter was only published on Thursday after the committee initially doubted Jean-Claude authored it, minutes show.
Charles Perrottet, a resident of Victoria, last week raised concern over some committee members’ “partisan, ill-informed, speculative and defamatory” commentary.
Cr Burge told the inquiry her meeting with Mr Ellis was amicable and she came away believing he was a nice, rich young man.
Despite being new to the Deniliquin area, he understood the failures in the local health system and wanted to help, proposing to use his “connections” to one of Mr Perrottet’s brothers to deliver a private-public hospital for the region, she said.
Cr Burge was disappointed Mr Ellis hadn’t responded to the inquiry, suggesting the “very proud father” was hiding out on his property south of Deniliquin.
“He’s being very unfair to the premier and the coalition by not appearing,” she said.
The Labor and Greens-led committee is expected to issue a final report on Thursday afternoon, hours before all parliamentary business is halted for the March 25 election.
By Luke Costin in Sydney
