Liberal candidate for Mackellar James Brown takes aim at Teal rival

He has met Donald Trump, played a leading role in Australia’s burgeoning space industry, and carried out three deployments with the Australian Army in the Middle East — now he is seeking to win back a key seat for the Liberals.

The former Army officer vying to win a Northern Beaches seat for the Liberal Party at next year’s federal election has taken aim at his Teal rival’s lack of achievements, saying he’ll campaign on cost of living measures impacting voters in the electorate.

James Brown – who has met Donald Trump, played a leading role in Australia’s burgeoning space industry, and carried out three deployments with the Australian Army in the Middle East – won preselection to contest Mackellar in a seven-way race over the weekend.

Talking exclusively to The Daily Telegraph, Mr Brown said he expected a grinding election against the Simon Holmes A Court-backed Climate 200 movement.

“We’re expecting a really tough fight against the Teals – we know they’ll have a lot of funding coming their way. They need to defend their record in Mackellar, and they have very little to point to,” he said.

Mr Brown will have to win the former blue ribbon seat back from Teal Dr Sophie Scamps, whose election in 2022 marked the first time the seat hasn’t been held by the Liberals in its history.

Newly-preselected Liberal candidate for Mackellar, James Brown, during his time in Iraq with the Australian army. Images: supplied

“It’s very hard to point to what Sophie Scamps delivered for Mackellar – she has been focused on issues which don’t seem to matter to everyday issues for Mackellar voters,” he said, quipping: “Sometimes doctors aren’t very good at listening to their patients.”

Mr Brown also said he wouldn’t be drawn on the “gender wars” amid claims the Liberal Party needed more women candidates contesting next year’s election.

“I’ll let other people comment on the gender wars, what I can say is the (Liberal Party) members that voted for me (Sunday) are embedded in the community here – they hear what we need to do here,” he said.

“It’s not to debate those sort of issues, it’s to help the people who need help – to make sure the countries well defended, stop the government overspending, and help build Australia as a place people are proud to live in.”

Mr Brown previously served in the Australian Army, undertaking three deployments in the Middle East to Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as the Solomon Islands.

Liberal candidate for Mackellar, James Brown. Image: Patrick Blacker

He later served as the president of the RSL, and remains the chairman of Invictus Australia.

Mr Brown also worked for the Lowy Institute of International Policy and the United States Studies Centre, where he briefly met Donald Trump during his first stint as president.

Most recently he worked as CEO of the Space Industry Association, helping land a major international conference slated for Sydney next year, before resigning from the role to focus on his federal tilt.

Mr Brown said he’d fight the Teals over the cost of living, saying a change in government from Labor would help those battling.

“You have some parts of Mackellar which are very wealthy, but particularly in the south, you have families really struggling,” he said.

“There’s a lot of tradies, a high proportion of small business – sometimes they’ve borrowed on the house to fund the business, and interest rates are killing them.”

Dr Scamps said in response she had supported “all the government’s bills to increase housing supply, whereas the coalition has voted against all of them”.

“Importantly, I’ve supported And I’ve pressured the government to do more to ease the cost of living, and they’ve responded – with energy bill relief, tripling the bulk billing incentive for GPs, making HECs fairer, and funding cheaper medicines and childcare,” she said.

“As a local embedded in our community, and an independent who is not told by a party how to vote, I am able to genuinely represent this community.”

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