A senior Parramatta Liberal councillor has quit the party hours before a vote to choose the city’s lord mayor, citing concerns about the Coalition’s growing alignment with One Nation and an inquiry into Liberal Party figures.
Tanya Raffoul announced her resignation on Monday morning and said she would continue serving on Parramatta council as an independent, at least for now.
“The Liberal Party’s growing policy and values alignment with a divisive political party, and its willingness to marginalise multicultural Australians, particularly across western Sydney, is disappointing,” she said in an Instagram post.
Raffoul, a former chief of staff to Liberal corrections minister David Elliott, also referred to the Independent Commission Against Corruption’s public inquiry into Liberal Party operatives.
“The recent public inquiry has also raised very serious questions about the Liberal Party’s culture and the weight given to merit and a genuine commitment to public service,” she said.
Under Operation Rosny, ICAC is investigating Liberal figures and their relationship with fugitive property developer Jean Nassif. The inquiry is examining allegations including whether Nassif and his company, Toplace, made political donations in breach of the Electoral Funding Act 2018.
Elliott has appeared as a witness, with the inquiry hearing that party operatives had sought, alongside Nassif, to spread false allegations that he was having an affair as part of a plot against him.
Raffoul’s departure has altered the numbers ahead of Monday night’s mayoral vote. Lord Mayor Martin Zaiter has held the position since 2024 and presides over a council that had been evenly divided between six Liberals and six Labor councillors, alongside one Greens councillor and two independents.
The Liberals now have five councillors, giving Labor a narrow lead, although it remains unclear how Raffoul will vote or whether her decision will determine the outcome.
Zaiter said he was disappointed by the resignation but added: “Whilst I am disappointed, we do live in a democracy.”
The move follows comments last week by One Nation senator Barnaby Joyce, who said he had spoken to “very senior” Liberals about the Coalition receiving confidence and supply support from his party.
Federal Liberal leader Angus Taylor and Nationals leader Matt Canavan said they had not held such conversations. Joyce nevertheless said One Nation would seek pro-mining policies, new dams and the revival of the 45 billion dollar inland rail project in return for supporting Taylor as prime minister in the event of a hung parliament.
