NSW Liberals fear the teal train, but Perrottet downplays concerns

Public blustering aside, NSW Liberals are privately worried a group of independent candidates will paint northern Sydney teal at the March state elections.

Several Liberal sources who spoke to Crikey on condition of anonymity said the party was taking too long to preselect candidates — fearing protracted infighting would lead to a repeat of the federal fiasco where the Coalition didn’t put candidates into winnable seats until it was too late.

“It’s a real problem if we don’t have candidates in the field — we need to be out there campaigning,” one Liberal said. “What we need is time, and the teals will be very happy that we’re running out of time.”