Peter Dutton and Angus Taylor (Image: AAP/Nikki Short)
Peter Dutton and Angus Taylor (Image: AAP/Nikki Short)

Peter Dutton is seizing control of the Liberal Party’s NSW division, but local power players aren’t letting go without a fight. 

At a meeting of the NSW state executive last night called to deal with Dutton’s ongoing federal intervention, a motion supported by Dutton’s federal team was defeated, and Crikey’s sources said Dutton’s representative on the committee, shadow treasurer Angus Taylor, “went nuts” with irritation while making his arguments. 

Dutton originally wanted a three-person committee to take charge, after the NSW divisions’ failure last month to nominate dozens of council candidates for this Saturday’s local elections. 

Dutton’s troika would have consisted of former Victorian state treasurer Alan Stockdale, former Howard government minister and Victorian Senator Richard Alston, and ex-NSW minister Rob Stokes (Stokes, it appears, had not