Then-member for Mackellar Jason Falinski talks to voters in the electorate at the federal election in May last year.Credit:Kate Geraghty
He defeated conservative candidate Philip Argy by a margin of 291-223,according to party sources not authorised to speak publicly. Falinski,a moderate MP,will replace former president Maria Kovacic who hastaken the late Jim Molan’s place in the Senate.
Argy campaigned in support of a plan being pushed by Opposition Leader Peter Dutton to pick all the party’s candidates for the next federal election by October.
Dutton,with the support of federal director Andrew Hirst,recently wrote to party bosses requesting the speedy process to avoid arepeat of the last federal election when some seats did not have candidates until weeks before the election.
Four senior Liberal sources said there was tension about the plan to fast-track preselections because picking candidates so far out from the next election,which could be held as late as September 2025,could dissuade talented people from running.
“Jason knows the timeline is very problematic but nobody wants another blow-up with the federal leadership,” one source said.
Senior Liberals have been urging former NSW premiers Gladys Berejiklian,Dominic Perrottet and Mike Baird,along with state opposition frontbencher Matt Kean,to run for federal seats to help revive the ailing federal brand.