news, act-politics

Liberal leader Jeremy Hanson has denied reports of a rift in his party after a breakaway faction penned an excoriating letter slamming its shift to social conservatism. Elements of the Canberra Liberals have expressed serious concern about the functioning of the party this week, as soul-searching continues in the aftermath of Saturday's election defeat. Some within the party have expressed concern that the Liberals have fundamental and systemic problems, which are keeping moderates either at bay, or out of the party altogether. A breakaway group of Liberals, formed after the bitter preselection tussle between Gary Humphries and Zed Seselja in 2013, re-emerged publicly on Thursday. The Menzies Group, as they style themselves, penned a letter warning that the party's socially conservative appearance had hurt them in the left-leaning ACT. "As terrible as the election outcome was for the Party and the ACT, we can't say it was entirely unexpected," the letter read. "It will take a great deal of work to undo the public's perception of the Canberra Liberals as too socially conservative, but that work must be done if we want to see a change of government in 2020." The group issued a stern warning on the leadership choice to be made next week, arguing a shift to Alistair Coe would be a step too far to the right. "If the party room decides to change from a socially moderate leader to one who is ultra conservative, the chances of successfully changing voters' perceptions before 2020 are non-existent," the group wrote. "That would be a recipe for another Labor victory in 2020 barring a major scandal." The letter warned that the "hard right's total control of the membership wing" of the Canberra Liberals was driving members to quit the party, and had been achieved through numerous breaches of the local division's constitution. "In addition, the Divisional structure adopted by the hard right was calculated to aid them in retaining control, but also acted to reduce membership participation and the ability to mobilise members. "The hard right has also totally mismanaged party finances. In short, in winning their internal battle to control the Party, the hard right crippled the Party's ability to win the war against Labor and the Greens." Mr Hanson went on ABC radio on Thursday morning to reject the assertions of the letter. He alleged the letter was the concerns of one person only, and stated that the party was unified. Fairfax has previously spoken with three Liberal sources who share the concerns expressed in the letter. Mr Hanson said reports of a division between the moderates and conservatives were overblown, and questioned how a moderate like himself could be leader for four years if there was any truth to the claims. "The party is in very good shape, the party is as united as it's ever been. There's a very positive mood within the party," he said. "I think you'll accept that in any organisation there may be some people who may be inside or outside who may be disgruntled for whatever reason." He said the party felt it had four good years in opposition, and they were currently working to understand how they lost the election. Mr Hanson highlighted the closeness in the primary vote between Labor and the Liberals. He said support for light rail had likely been "a factor" in Gungahlin, where the Liberals were soundly beaten by Labor.

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