There’s been a
mixed response to Friday’s news that Sex Discrimination Commissioner Pru Goward
will nominate for the safe New South Wales state parliamentary seat of Epping.

Local Liberal
leader Peter Debnam was sticking to the tried and tested formula of “the
Liberals are getting a good field of candidates and as usual will select the
best one” for the evening TV news bulletins on Friday night.

A letter in
the Weekend Australian summed up the views of many: “Surely it’s a joke to suggest that Pru Goward could be
considered as a Liberal candidate for the NSW state seat of Epping. Hasn’t the NSW
Liberal Party learned from the loss of Pittwater to an independent that people
will only consider a local?”

Get ready to hear a lot more on this topic.
Sources in the NSW Liberals say that any attempt to parachute in an outsider
will not go down well. There are constant references to Pittwater.

Of course, there’s also another high
profile woman lining up for Epping – a local, former Ku-ring-gai mayor Adrienne
Ryan.