Outgoing WA Liberals president declares ‘The Clan’ a footnote

WA Liberal party president Caroline Di Russo has declared the ‘The Clan’ is a footnote in the history of her party as she prepares to step down from the role next month after serving the maximum allowable four years.

The Clan was a powerful faction of two-dozen people that included MPs counting Nick Goiran and former MPs Peter Collier and current OECD chair Mathias Cormann that attempted to orchestrate the installation of members or allies in office-bearing roles and candidates.

The Clan’s activities were revealed in a 700-page leak of the group’s Whatsapp records in the wake of the catastrophic 2021 election and it has been a sore point for the party since.

Di Russo took over the role in October 2022 following the shock resignation of her predecessor Richard Wilson who was charged with smashing factionalism in the WA Liberals, but in his parting message described his frustration with “toxic self-interest” that continued in the party.

She has been a stable presence during continued turbulence and the conservative commentator and former insolvency lawyer said the party was unrecognisable from when she took over.

“The culture is much better. The engagement is much better. There’s a lot less in the way of silly games and unproductive carry on,” she said.

Asked directly whether The Clan was still active in the party she said: “The Clan, as it was, is long consigned to history.”

She conceded factionalism was always at play in politics, which could sometimes be healthy, but The Clan was no more.

“The Labor Party formalises it, so you’re always going to have competition…and actually, to be honest, I think healthy competition is good,” she said.

“But the makeup of the factions from when everything broke in 2021, 2022, that there is a footnote of Liberal Party history, frankly.”

Di Russo’s successor is Perth economist and former Young Liberals president Aiden Depiazzi who will be elected at next month’s state conference unopposed. Depiazzi was a member of The Clan Whatsapp group.

He declined to comment citing party rules that only the current president or state director can comment on behalf of the party.

A party insider speaking on the condition of anonymity said the factional makeup of the party was roughly split along the line of the wealthy western suburbs branches and the rest of the party.

Di Russo said during her time there was a genuine, constructive approach from across the party to improve things to become a better organisation and campaign outfit.

She pointed to changes around lay party membership including banning payments for memberships outside immediate families and only allowing moves to new branches every 12 months as some of the most effective in stamping out the branch stacking.

“That really slows down the playing of games, and also we doubled our membership fee,” she said.

“While that might not seem a lot to go from $25 to $50, it does provide a financial restraint.”

Di Russo pointed to third-party vetting as a major win for reducing candidate controversies, while a major focus was on improving fundraising, which put the party on a better footing heading into the 2028 federal and 2029 state elections.

While she has seen huge internal improvements Di Russo concedes electorally her party is still challenged. There is opportunity, though.

“We did see some improvement at the state level, but your investments don’t always necessarily pay off straight away and when you have so few resources, it’s very difficult to make really significant gains,” she said.

“We’ve still got a smallish state team, but they’re a very good state team, and they work really hard.

“There’s a very good foundation there now.”

Di Russo remains involved in the federal party as one of its vice presidents and admits the rise of One Nation is concerning.

“What we do know is that Anthony Albanese is incredibly unpopular. Where people are unhappy with the current government and the vote can peel off, it’s incumbent on us to give it a home to go to,” she said.

“When it’s establishment versus anti-establishment, as opposed to you know just the blue and red that we’re used to, you’ve got to do the work, but you’ve also got to really win back that credibility and trust.“

Di Russo reflections on One Nation are similar to her colleague, WA Opposition Leader Basil Zempilas, in that she wanted to see Liberals win, but there was recognition that Hanson’s party also wanted to remove Labor.

“I don’t think it’s as neat and tidy, or as black as and white as friend or foe, or partner or enemy,” she said.

“I think it’s a little bit more nuanced, but quite frankly, both us and One Nation, our focus should be on removing poor Labor governments.”