THE knives are out for Hughes MP Craig Kelly.
Opinion in the NSW Liberal Party is all but unanimous that Mr Kelly, one of Tony Abbott’s die-hard supporters, will likely face a preselection challenge this year.
Mr Kelly, a climate sceptic on the party’s right, enjoys a 60:40 two-party-preferred margin in the seat, but his grip on support within his own party has been destabilised by an unfavourable redistribution of the seat’s boundaries and an ugly battle for branches.
Left-wing factional boss and Sutherland Shire councillor Kent Johns is nominated by party sources as the most likely candidate to challenge.
A source close to the sitting MP said he has been privately acknowledging a challenge from Cr Johns is likely.
Cr Johns declined to comment ‘‘on internal party matters’’.
Another senior party source said a ‘‘Melbourne Cup field’’ of potential candidates was eyeing the seat, including Liverpool mayor Ned Mannoun.
‘‘There’s always a bit of activity around the branches,’’ Mr Kelly said. ‘‘But it’s an open and democratic contest and that’s the way it should always be. I’m more than happy to stand on my record as a local member.’’
A planned redistribution of the seat by the electoral commission will excise two branches loyal to Mr Kelly from the seat and bring another controlled by the party’s rival left faction.
Other branches in Hughes have been the subject of ugly battles.
Cr Johns’ personal friend and political ally, state MP Melanie Gibbons, has been in a battle for another major branch in the seat, Moorebank.
A faction loyal to Mr Kelly and bolstered by a surge in membership from Liverpool's Macedonian community seemed poised to secure the branch when the Liberal state executive intervened to freeze it after a dispute.
After a recent heated branch meeting, Ms Gibbons called police after a branch member was heard to yell "I'll kill you" across the room. Ms Gibbons said she fears for her safety. The man's supporters claim the remark was jovial. The matter will be heard in court in February.
The future of that branch and, perhaps, Mr Kelly's career, now lies in the hands of the party's state executive. Cr Johns is urban vice-president of that body.
Mr Kelly's standing has also likely diminished after Tony Abbott's downfall as Prime Minister.
Mr Kelly was one of the first MPs to declare he would vote for Mr Abbott in September's leadership challenge and his close allegiance to the party leader was seen as a check on a challenge.
"The second [the coup] happened people began to say that Craig's time was up," said one party source.
