LNP opens preselection for Fadden minutes after Stuart Robert announces retirement plans

The state LNP is quickly trying to replace controversial former frontbencher Stuart Robert, with preselection opening minutes after he revealed his retirement plans.

• ‘Few regrets’: Robert bows out

The Queensland LNP have fired the starters gun to find a replacement for controversial former frontbencher Stuart Robert, with preselection opening minutes after his political retirement plans were revealed.

The federal member for Fadden since 2007, Mr Robert was a major power player in the Morrison government and recently claimed “absolute responsibility” for his part in the illegal Robodebt scheme that claimed a number of lives.

Mr Robert on Saturday morning announced he would be retiring in the “coming weeks” and in a statement said he was the “first to acknowledge his time in parliament has not been the smoothest ride”.

His retirement from his Gold Coast electorate will spark a by-election — the first to be held since the Liberal Party’s crushing loss in the Victorian seat of Aston, which was picked up by the government in a phenomenon not seen for a century.

LNP state director Ben Riley, in an email to members on Saturday morning, confirmed preselection for the seat of Fadden had opened effective immediately and would close on May 19.

Mr Riley noted the timing of the by-election was out of their hands, and the timing of when nominations close may be shorter if time frames necessitated it.

The LNP hold Fadden with a margin of 10.63 per cent on the two-party preferred count, making it a safe seat for the party.

“Stuart has asked me to pass on his gratitude for the privilege of serving as the Federal Member for Fadden,” Mr Riley wrote.

“He has conveyed his gratefulness for the dedication of members, who have been instrumental in allowing him to fight for our beliefs, protect our freedoms and strive to foster a society that offers opportunity to all.”

Stuart Robert is retiring from politics. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Gary Ramage

Mr Robert said it had been a privilege to serve the people of Australia as a minister and shadow minister, marking a number of projects delivered for the electorate and more broadly on veterans’ affairs and the NDIS.

“I am the first to acknowledge my time in Parliament has not been the smoothest ride. Politics is tough. People throw the kitchen sink at you. And promises of a kinder, gentler Parliament need to be taken with a grain of salt,” he said.

“We may all aspire to it, but ambition in politics will always win — as Labor stalwart Graham Richardson aptly put it: ‘whatever it takes’.

“I do hope civility does eventually come to the theatre of politics. But I do fear division has well and truly entrenched itself in the current Parliament. A kinder, gentler Parliament it is not.”

Mr Robert wished Opposition Leader Peter Dutton “all success as leader of our party and Leader of the Opposition”.