A vicious Liberal Party factional brawl will culminate this week with a move to expel Blake Keating from the party's Newcastle branch.
Local Centre-Right faction leader Brendan Tate is expected to move a motion on Wednesday night to expel conservative faction candidate Mr Keating for "conduct unbecoming of a branch member".
"I hereby inform you that your conduct on 13 July 2022 was unbecoming of a member of the branch and your ongoing membership has and will continue to be both disruptive and counterproductive to the objectives of the Newcastle Branch and the Newcastle Conference as a whole," a letter sent to Mr Keating advising him of the intention to expel him says.
The specifics of what Mr Keating, who led the party's Hunter No campaign in last year's Voice referendum, is alleged to have done are not spelt out.
The move to expel Mr Keating coincides with a period of brutal preselection battles in the lead up to October's local government elections.
Neither Mr Tate nor Mr Keating said they were able to discuss internal party matters on Monday.
Mr Keating, who has been a member of the branch since 2017, has not attended a meeting of the branch for the past 18 months.
Mr Tate, who is the party's state electoral conference secretary, has previously been mentioned as a potential candidate in the upcoming local government elections.
Mr Keating, who was previously the party's candidate for the state seat of Newcastle, was last week reelected to the party state executive. He received 164 votes, the highest of any of the 11 country and regional candidates.
Mr Tate, by contrast, received 22 votes.
If the motion to expel Mr Keating, who is also a member of the Wallsend Young Liberals branch, succeeds, it is unclear if he will be able to remain on the state executive.
The party's Newcastle branch, which has a membership of about 60, has been mired in controversy and infighting in recent years.
Mr Keating has made several complaints about branch members, including an allegation of racism, to the party's head office.
She said she and other female members had been under constant attack from within their party.
"I have been trying to avoid the word bullying but that's what it is," she said.
Ms Barrie, who resigned as Newcastle State Electoral Conference vice-president, has alleged that incorrect membership information has been circulated as part of a push to have her removed from the Newcastle council.
An anonymous complaint lodged with Liberal Party headquarters alleged Cr Barrie temporarily changed her address from Mt Hutton in Lake Macquarie to Newcastle in the lead up to the 2021 Local Government Election. It is alleged she did the same thing when she stood in the 2017 election.
