March of the Right, Part 2

Confirmation came yesterday that NSW Liberal Patricia Forsythe has lost her preselection with a substantial 44 votes to 22. Today, speaking to the ABC's Virginia Trioli, Stateline host Quentin Dempster agreed that her controversial interview with his show about John Brogden's departure and the Right's part in it may have contributed to her ousting, but also pointed out that she would probably not have made the decision to do the interview had her preselection not already been under serious, perhaps fatal, threat.

Meanwhile, the latest rumours have it that moderate Federal Liberal senator Marise Payne will be the next to lose her preselection. Payne, who recently chaired the Senate Enquiry into the Anti Terrorism legislation, was one of the most vocal opponents of the sedition provisions, and in the past also came out strongly on issues such as the Coalition's policy on refugees and the mandatory sentencing of children in the Northern Territory.

One thing the Liberal Right don't seem to appreciate - other than the important need for balance within parties about which I spoke earlier - is that moderates also fulfil an important role within their party in an electoral sense. Anyone who scrutineered for the 2004 Federal election will tell you the astonishing number of people who voted Liberal first preference, Green second preference. The `doctors wife' vote is a genuine phenomenon.

The Sun-Herald's screaming weekend headlines about the new Independent Member for Pittwater Alex McTaggart's ownership of an alleged `drug haven' boarding house had me giggling. Could the Liberal Right have possibly fed the Herald this story? Nahhhh. Haven't they worked out yet that this is exactly the sort of pathetic scullduggery that got them voted out in the first place ...