Potential Liberal candidates for October's ACT election will have to stump up $3300 to nominate for the party's preselection process, set to be finalised next month.
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Up from $600 in previous election cycles, the fee puts the party at odds with Labor and the Greens who do not charge for nomination. Preselection materials obtained by The Canberra Times this week show the party will close nominations at midday on April 5, ahead of electorate preselection meetings in April and early May.
The high cost comes as the debt-laden party plans to spend up to $1 million fighting Labor, after last month receiving a $30,000 donation from the federal Liberal Party. Australian Electoral Commission data showed in February the party had debts totalling $318,054, down from $492,000 in 2013-14.
Opposition Leader Jeremy Hanson expects the Liberal line up to be confirmed by the last week of April. The late preselection is designed to lessen the disruption for potential candidates, while Labor and the Greens have already named their teams.
It is understood the nomination fee surprised some party members, but newly elected branch president Arthur Potter, who replaced former president Peter Collins in October, said it reflected strong interest in preselection and includes a starter pack for new candidates.
The Liberals will preselect a full slate of 25 candidates.
To be eligible to vote, rank and file members must have been signed up for three months before April 5 and have attended at least one branch meeting in the six months since October 2015.
Members who haven't met the criteria can attend meetings up to March 31 to be eligible. Party nomination forms commonly require potential candidates to disclose any personal objections to Liberal policy or conflict with existing elected members, as well as mental health problems, legal or business issues and any criminal convictions including drink driving.
"If you are going to put your life on hold for the period of the campaign, the dollar amount didn't seem excessive," Mr Potter said.
"It was a management committee decision but I haven't had any negative feedback.
" At the moment it looks as though we are going to be oversubscribed which means we will have contested preselections in all of the seats."
He expected Liberal candidates would come from across Canberra, including small business people and public servants. Young people and those from diverse backgrounds would be included.
The branch has the ability to override rank and file preselection but Mr Potter said he didn't believe it would be necessary. He expected as many as 700 members to vote.
The Liberal moves came in the same week as ACT Labor elected its first Indigenous branch president, Jo Chivers.
Ms Chivers is deputy chair of the ACT Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Elected Body, chair of the Canberra and District NAIDOC Aboriginal Corporation and a director of the Indigenous Reading Project.
The mother of two and federal public service veteran unsuccessfully contested Labor preselection in the seat of Murrumbidgee.
