Just when the Liberal Party is struggling to rebuild and move into the 21st century following a series of self-inflicted wounds and May 3’s near-death electoral defeat, a blundering tribal elder has glanced backwards and shown that political parties are quite capable of rotting from the top.

Alan Stockdale, a former Liberal Party federal president and ex-Victorian treasurer, brought in to save the NSW Liberal branch from self harm, has managed to shoot himself and the party in the feet, telling a Zoom meeting of the NSW Liberal Women’s Council this week, “women are sufficiently assertive now… we should be giving some thought to whether we need to protect men’s involvement”.

Alan Stockdale (left) and Richard Alston sit on the administration committee, alongside former NSW MP Peta Seaton.Credit: Sydney Morning Herald

As bewildered outrage raced along the Liberals’ bush telegraph and federal........

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