One Nation says election of Alex Antic to SA Liberal president a 'win'

In short:

One Nation has welcomed Senator Alex Antic's election as president of the South Australian Liberal party.

Senator Antic was elected at the party's AGM on Saturday, in a contest against SA upper house MP Nicola Centofanti.

His nomination was opposed by moderates and some conservatives in the party, with concerns about his record of voting against his own party, and his close relationship with One Nation.

One Nation has described Senator Alex Antic's election as state president of the Liberal party as a "win" for South Australia.

In a statement that did little to dispel concerns about the Liberal Senator's close ties to One Nation, SA Leader Cory Bernardi said he was looking forward to "continuing a constructive relationship with the Senator".

"As we saw at the election in March, many who used to support the Liberals have given their support to One Nation because the Liberals no longer represent the conservative values which matter to them," Mr Bernardi said.

"Senator Antic's win represents an opportunity to turn the South Australian Liberals back to the right path."

Senator Antic was elected state president at the party's annual general meeting on Saturday, in a contest against SA upper house MP Nicola Centofanti.

His nomination was opposed by moderates and some conservatives in the party, with concerns about his record of voting against his own party, and his close relationship with One Nation.

Emerging from the AGM, many senior Liberals publicly backed Senator Antic's election, but former Howard government parliamentary secretary Trish Worth said he didn't have her support.

"I just believe we should always be selecting the people with the most experience and loyalty in the Liberal Party and I've been on state executive and federal executive twice, I've been in the parliament and you need serious team work," she said.

Ms Worth, a delegate on the state council, raised concerns about some of his policy positions, including a recent push to re-open a loophole in the "No Jab, No Pay" policy introduced by the Turnbull government in 2015.

"To be anti-vaccination is a very serious thing because you're not only endangering your own health, but you're endangering those around you," she said.

Shadow health minister Anne Ruston said it couldn't "necessarily" be said that Senator Antic was taking the party in a concerning direction.

"I don't think you can necessarily say that. I mean Alex and I are both in the Liberal Party and we both want the Liberal Party to succeed but he's got a big job ahead of him over the next 12 months," she said.

"The role he's chosen to do today is administrative and so he needs to focus on doing that as well as focus on his role as a senator representing South Australians in Canberra.

"They're two enormous jobs, they're two full time jobs and I just wish him all the best."

Senator Antic left the meeting on Saturday without speaking to gathered media, but has previously denied he wants a merger between the SA Liberal Party and One Nation.

"That has been made up. That is just outright not right," he told the 2 Worlds Collide Podcast.

"Even strong right-leaning Liberals would have a problem with that," Senator Antic said, adding that there would also be financial complications.

His new position could be seen to be something of a threat to moderate parliamentary party leader Ashton Hurn.

But former federal Liberal Leader Alexander Downer hosed down those concerns.

"It would have no impact. It's not relevant to that. It's not an issue that bears any relationship to the parliamentary party. The state president and the state executive are responsible for the administration of the party organisation and they have responsibility for fundraising," he said.

"It's not a policy role and it's important to understand this. The state executive, like the federal executive in the Liberal Party doesn't make policy. The parliamentary party makes policy."

That's despite an email from Senator Antic to delegates who vote on leadership positions, which said he wanted to "restore policy authority to members".

"I will move to ensure our members have a genuine say in the policy direction of this party," he wrote.