REMEMBER WHEN

GOLD COAST BULLETIN Saturday April 9, 2005

THE faction-ridden Liberal Party planned to run candidates in every Gold Coast division as well as the mayoralty at the next council election in 2008.

The party, which was plagued by infighting at a state level, began a feasibility study into fielding a team at the election and said it has strong support from its membership to introduce party politics into the Gold Coast City Council.

A growing and ambitious membership had already forced the Liberals into a fight with the Nationals over who would run against Labor in state seats on the Gold Coast.

The party was looking for even more opportunities to appease disgruntled members who had been losing out in preselections for state and federal seats.

Heading the study was failed council candidate and Liberal vice-president Jim MacAnally who many predicted would run for mayor if the Liberal Party decided to run a team.

Mr MacAnally was a member of the dominant faction, once headed by Bob Carroll, which had been split by an internal dispute between former allies Senator Santo Santoro and party president and Brisbane City councillor Michael Caltabiano.

The bitter divisions within the faction saw some members align themselves with their traditional enemies.

The jockeying for power and positions had spilt over into the Gold Coast branches where there was already a battle under way for preselection at the next state election.

Both the Nationals and the Labor Party ruled out endorsing candidates, which was seen as helping the Liberals’ grab for control of the council.