‘Warring kingdoms’: cofounder of religious Reformers compares NSW Liberal party factionalism to Braveheart
Summary
A member of a young conservative group within the NSW Liberal Party called the Reformers spoke at an investigation about possible illegal political donations and membership boosting. The group compared their internal party conflicts to battles in the movie Braveheart and said they did not think electoral laws applied to their actions.Key Facts
- The Reformers are a group of young conservative Liberal party members active since 2017.
- The Independent Commission Against Corruption (Icac) is investigating whether the Reformers solicited illegal donations or exceeded donation limits.
- The practice under investigation is known as “branch-stacking,” which means signing up party members to influence internal votes.
- Robert Assaf, a cofounder of the Reformers, testified that they saw their factional fights like “warring kingdoms,” similar to scenes in Braveheart.
- Assaf said the group believed electoral laws did not apply to their internal party work.
- The Reformers allegedly wanted more conservative policies on issues like same-sex marriage, abortion, and transgender rights.
- There are also allegations that the group received $2 million from a fugitive property developer in exchange for political favors.
- Some politicians, including former NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet and federal opposition leader Angus Taylor, were said to be aware of the Reformers, though they are not accused of wrongdoing.
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