Despite Prime Minister Scott Morrison making it clear he wants the former senator back in Parliament,Liberal operator Richard Shields has snared some well-known referees.
Jim Molan has won support from the conservative wing of the NSW Liberals for Arthur Sinodinos'Senate vacancy,but will face a challenge from moderate candidates.
Aggrieved hard-right branch members turned out in droves to complain about the Liberal Party’s"extreme left"positions.
While Jim Molan launches his campaign to return to the Senate,Libs and Nats turn their thoughts to Deputy Premier John Barilaro's recent federal interventions
The outgoing Liberal Senator has called for Australia to support the US in providing military escorts for oil tankers in the Persian Gulf.
Anger at Senator Molan's rogue re-election campaign makes it less likely the party will parachute him into an upcoming vacancy.
A candidate would be disqualified for running a below-the-line campaign under new arrangements being considered.
So long is the wait until Arthur Sinodinos boards the flight to Washington DC that the plane in which he will travel probably hasn’t been built yet.
The Nationals took the"extraordinary"step on Wednesday of advising members to ignore Coalition how-to-vote cards and instead vote below-the-line.
National Party officials emailed members saying,"We are not taking this extraordinary step lightly ... this is not something we want to do."
Supporters of the spurned senator have revealed plans to man every polling booth on the northern beaches with their own volunteers on May 18.