A possible Josh Frydenberg revival has divided Liberal colleagues as a draft redistribution that would abolish an inner-Melbourne seat sends pre-selections into disarray. Labor-held Higgins is set to be abolished and a new seat created in Perth. The redistribution changes the margins of surrounding seats, including Chisholm and Kooyong, where Frydenberg lost to independent Monique Ryan at the last election.
But some rank and file members are furious a man would come over the top of a pre-selected woman as the party struggles to achieve gender balance. Frydenberg “had ample opportunity months ago” if he wanted to run, founder of Hilma’s Network, which helps Liberal women get pre-selected, Charlotte Mortlock said. “The women who have been preselected and campaigning for months are not seat warmers for dudes,” she wrote on social media platform X.