Scott Morrison's original preselection

In Nasty saga you nearly missed Paul Sheehan writes that Michael Towke won preselection for the seat of Cook in 2007 polling 82 votes and beating a large number of candidates. Former state director of the NSW Liberal Party Scott Morrison received 8 votes and was eliminated in the first round. Four days after Towke won preselection a campaign started against him in the Daily Telegraph:

Four different Telegraph journalists, two of them very senior, wrote those four stories, so the campaign of leaks and smears was assiduous. There is insufficient space to detail all the claims made and disputed. Towke was portrayed as a serial liar, an exaggerator. He disputed every such imputation with factual evidence. After it was obvious his political credibility had been destroyed by these stories, he started defamation proceedings. A year of legal attrition ensued.

Shortly before the matter was to begin in court this month, Nationwide News paid and settled.

It is telling that experienced Telegraph journalists appear to have based their stories on sources they trusted, suggesting those doing the leaking were both senior figures and seasoned in dealing with the media.

Though Towke would eventually win his legal war, the damage had been done. The adverse media coverage set in train a reaction within the party to get rid of him. A second ballot was ordered, in which the balance of power was shifted away from the grassroots in Cook and to the state executive. The second ballot gave the preselection to Scott Morrison. Amazing. He had been parachuted into the seat over Towke's political carcass. Morrison clearly had backers who wanted him to get the seat. ''These guys were prepared to ruin my life,'' Towke said.

Towke sued the publisher of the Daily Telegraph who settled before trial:

On the eve of the trial, Nationwide came up with another offer: $50,000, plus costs, plus removing the offending articles from the internet and dropping the confidentiality requirement. On the advice of counsel, Towke accepted.

Both the major parties engage in dirty tricks when it comes to internal politics. It would be interesting to know who was behind it in this case though.

Edit 5th March: Nick Bryant's So Who the Bloody Hell Are You?: Scott Morrison