Liberal Party Member Colleen Harkin Resigns After One Nation Fundraiser

Liberal Party member and think tank education director Colleen Harkin has quit the party a week after attending a One Nation fundraiser.

Ms Harkin, a one-time federal Liberal candidate for the seat of Macnamara, is also the director of education at the conservative think tank the Institute of Public Affairs.

Speaking to Raf Epstein on Mornings on 774 ABC Radio Melbourne on Friday, Ms Harkin confirmed she had attended the One Nation fundraiser in South Melbourne on June 12.

"Inside the room, there was a very high energy positive feel. What interested me most was the spread and type of people who were there," Ms Harkin told the program.

"When we've had these conversations here about a presumption of people who have lower socio-economic class or a lack of academic qualifications as One Nation supporters. It was not what was in the room.

"A lot of people I spoke with had not really been politically engaged before and were just concerned about the direction of the country and the tenor of the country."

In an email to Liberal members today, Ms Harkin said she had been concerned about the party's direction for years, but hung on to try to restore what she described as its core principles.

She said the party was in an "insipid state" because of a lack of policy conviction, and that she could not continue to be part of it.

Her email stated:

Dear Brian, Alyson et al,

I have spent decades of my life supporting the Liberal Party. I have volunteered, donated, fundraised, campaigned and defended the Party because I believed it stood for something worth defending.

For years I have been concerned at its direction, but hung on by a fine thread, trying to help restore and preserve core principles. However, I no longer believe the party is committed to the same values that inspired my loyalty.

I have not changed. The Party has.

I cannot continue to support an organisation that has lost sight of its principles, its purpose and its responsibilities to its own members. I hereby resign my membership of the Liberal party.

I have the greatest respect for Presidents Tony Abbott and Brian Loughnane. However, their executive leadership cannot compensate for a party shaped by the Machiavellian factionalism, expediency and a lack of policy conviction that has seen the party brought to its insipid state.

Sincerely,

Colleen Harkin

Ms Harkin ran for Liberals in 2022 in the federal seat of Macnamara in Melbourne, but lost to Labor's Josh Burns.

In May last year, former Liberal leader John Pesutto was ordered to pay $2.3 million in legal costs and damages to MP Moira Deeming after losing a high-profile defamation case.

Five state executive members, led by Ms Harkin, launched Supreme Court action to block the $1.55 million loan from the Liberal Party — through its investment company Vapold — to help him pay the debt.

The group argued the payment was a breach of trust, claiming Vapold's assets were held in trust exclusively for the party.

Ms Harkin addressed the case in her resignation letter stating:

In Harkin & Ors v Vapold, the plaintiffs have, on a number of occasions, offered significant compromise to settle the matter on perfectly reasonable terms, all in an effort to ensure the $1.55 million given to John Pesutto to fund his personal debt is, at least, repaid.

The attempts to resolve the matter have been rejected or gone unanswered.

One is left to wonder why the defendants continue to waste further millions of Party funds in the court, endeavouring to defend the indefensible, rather than resolve the matter in a way that ensures transparency, better governance going forward and the protection of $1.55 million of party assets.

The case will continue. Tony Schneider will take up lead plaintiff. I will continue to be involved, and I look forward to taking the stand.