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A veteran Liberal who called refugee activists and environmentalists "a bunch of cockroaches" was confronted at the weekend's preselection meeting over the inflammatory remarks by a rising star in the party.
Sources who attended the closed meeting of preselectors held on Saturday said WA Councillor Brent Fleeton, 30, approached failed Liberal senate candidate Michael Sutherland, 63, about his comments, reported by Fairfax Media.
Mr Fleeton confirmed he questioned Mr Sutherland about his views, saying it was important to take a stand against such tactics.
"I did confront him about it because I wanted him to explain to State Council why he thought it was helpful to use a derogatory term instead of actually debating the issues, no matter how funny to him," he said.
"It was a silly thing for him to say and not what I want from a potential Liberal representative in Canberra."
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But Mr Sutherland, originally from South Africa, did not retreat from his comments and said he would refer to his political enemies as "parasites" instead. According to sources at the meeting, the room erupted with laughter. "It's not clear if they were laughing with him or at him," one person who was in the room said.
Mr Sutherland, a former WA speaker who received just eight votes out of 131 at the weekend ballot held at the Burswood Casino Ballroom, did not respond to Fairfax Media's request for comment.
Last week, a recording of Mr Sutherland's remarks emerged.
In the audio, Mr Sutherland can be heard criticising councils who support the voluntary refugee welcome zone scheme as "cockroaches" swarming his former electorate of Mount Lawley, which he lost in the March election to Labor. He also used the term to describe opponents of fracking and environmental campaigners who urge companies and local governments to avoid investing in fossil fuel companies. Those attending the Liberal party event in Sydney in June, where the comments were made, can be heard laughing at his remarks.
Mr Fleeton said Mr Sutherland's remarks "clearly did further damage to an already-tarnished Liberal Party brand'.
The Liberal Party is better than this
WA councillor Brent Fleeton
"I'm trying to push back against Green campaigns like divestment at the grassroots local council level using facts and debate, not personal attacks. The Liberal Party is better than this."
Mr Sutherland's wife, Michelle Sutherland, sits on Bayswater Council with Mr Fleeton. Mr Sutherland previously told Fairfax Media that it was she who first told him about Refugee Welcome Zones, prompting his opposition to the idea.
Slade Brockman was endorsed to fill the Senate vacancy caused by the retirement of Chris Back. Mr Brockman served as chief of staff to Finance Minister Mathias Cormann, who is also a right-wing powerbroker in WA.