Politics is a blood sport in Canberra. But inside the Young Liberal movement it gets even more serious than that.

On the night after the Malcolm Turnbull v Tony Abbott leadership spill, a Young Liberal meeting in Sydney erupted into wild scenes, with allegations a member of the Abbott-backing conservative faction physically assaulted a Turnbull-supporting moderate.



An official complaint was lodged with the NSW Liberal Party on Thursday morning, following the event at the City Tattersalls Club on Pitt Street on Tuesday. A spokeswoman for state director Tony Nutt said: "Sorry, we won't be saying anything."

Almost 100 people are said to have witnessed the altercation as the factions divided in support of the contenders in Canberra.