PLP leadership contender Curtis Dickinson says the ‘negative spin’ on his campaign’s success in drawing new members makes him scratch his head, adding that the current leader had called for growth
We did what David Burt asked us to do.
That’s Curtis Dickinson’s response to some of the criticism that has been targeted at his campaign, after it signed up an unprecedented 1,800-plus new and renewed PLP members ahead of the pending party leadership election.
In the third and final part of our interview with the PLP leadership contender, he said “the party leader, last year at our delegates conference, invited all of us to go out and increase the number of members in our party.”
“We went out and did that.”
He acknowledges that some have taken a “negative view” on the work the campaign has done, but says “people are broadly supportive” of their efforts.
He also pushed back on the question of whether an surge of ‘new people in the room’ could destablilise the party.
“We had 20,000, 16,000 and then 12,000 votes in the last three elections”, Mr Dickinson said, referring to the PLP’s votes in the 2017, 2020 and 2025 general elections.
“At the time there have been roughly 1,800 PLP members.”
“[The] difference between 20,000 and 1,800, 16,000 and 1800, and 12,000 and 1,800, is a lot of people who have not been PLP members, who have voted for us.”
“The notion that I’ve gone out along with my colleagues and expanded the base of our party, and that being viewed negatively, makes me scratch my head.”
“The positive in this is that we have expanded the base of the party, and it is now our job as leaders of the party to encourage, support, facilitate the engagement of those new members into our party.”
PLP members, including party leader and Premier David Burt, alleged that the influx of members coming via the Dickinson campaign included former supporters of, and major players in, the OBA.
The number of such applicants has not been made public, but the PLP Central Committee responded by amending membership rules so those who had recently campaigned agaisnt the PLP could be vetted, and so brand new members would not be able to become delegates and vote directly in the leadership election.
Mr Dickinson and four other plaintiffs won a court case to prevent those amendments affecting those who had already become members.
The PLP Central Committee determined on Monday that the PLP Annual Delegates Conference, including the party leadership election, will take place January 13-15, 2027.
The PLP executive is required to deliver a list of party members to the court on Friday this week. Paid-up members are eligible to be selected as delegates for the Annual Conference, and delegates can vote in the leadership election.
