Natalie Baini, a lawyer and sports administrator, is withdrawing from the preselection process in the marginal Sydney seat of Reid

A high-profile NSW Liberal woman is quitting to run as an independent at the next federal election, partly to protest the handling of an internal complaint in which she alleged “inappropriate” behaviour by some senior men within the party and government.

Natalie Baini, a lawyer and sports administrator who nominated as a Liberal candidate for the marginal Sydney seat of Reid in May, is withdrawing from the preselection process and quitting the party to run as an independent.

Her decision is also due to her concerns about the preselection process, with expectations growing the Liberals will not allow a ballot of members in the seat that would have seen her compete against the sitting moderate MP, Fiona Martin.

Baini, who advised the party on Monday that she would be withdrawing from the preselection race and cancelling her membership, told Guardian Australia she had initially decided to nominate after being approached by party faithful unhappy with their representation in Canberra.

She accused the Morrison government of paying “lip service” to women’s issues, saying she had raised “serious concerns” with the NSW state division about the alleged conduct of some senior individuals in the party, and she was yet to receive a response.

“It is astonishing the level of dismissiveness with which those concerns have been met,” Baini said.

“At the same time, I see a government paying lip service to this notion of respect at work and the protection of women and I believe that the concerns that I have raised have caused the party to sweep yet another critical issue under the rug.”

Baini did not want to discuss the details of the complaint made to the NSW division, other than it related to the alleged “inappropriate conduct of some senior members of the party and the government”.

“The party failed to respond adequately at all,” Baini said.

“I am a fair person. I could have accepted that following a thorough investigation, the findings did not come down in my favour. However, despite a number of reports that suggest an investigation was conducted and that it reached a conclusion, I received absolutely no requests for input into that investigation, which is astonishing.”

It is understood the NSW division responded to Baini’s complaints – three years after her initial complaint – but found the behaviour was outside the scope of the party’s code of conduct.

The self-described “lifelong Liberal”, who was previously vice president of the Reid branch, said she had struggled with the decision to withdraw from the preselection race and quit the party she had supported for 40 years.

She first joined as a member aged 16 in the mid-1990s and has been involved in every election since, including as co-manager of the 2016 campaign of former sitting Liberal MP Craig Laundy.

But Baini said once it became clear the Liberal party was not going to allow the preselection process to go ahead, she made the decision to run to offer an option to “traditional Liberal voters” in the seat.

“The reason I have withdrawn from the preselection process is because it is entirely unreasonable and infeasible that a candidate for an upcoming election would be preselected now, given the various challenges the government is facing, and certainly the uphill battle it is facing in Reid.

“I believe that nominations were sought in bad faith by the party and I am calling it out.”

Frustration has been building in the NSW division over the failure of the party to finalise preselections in a raft of other seats in NSW, including Hughes, Gilmore, Parramatta, Warringah, Bennelong, Dobell, Eden-Monaro, Fowler and Greenway.

Baini said there was unhappiness among conservative Liberals in the seat about the issues being pursued by Martin in Canberra, who has become one of a group of outspoken moderate MPs agitating for more action on climate change. more...

http://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/nov/30/high-profile-liberal-woman-quits-party-to-run-as-independent-after-alleging-inappropriate-behaviour