‘Not rushing’: Former Treasurer Josh Frydenberg rules out return to politics at next election

Former treasurer Josh Frydenberg broken his silence on rumours he is planning a political comeback following his defeat in the last federal election.

Former federal treasurer Josh Frydenberg has ruled out his rumoured return to politics at the next election after speculation he would try to run again in his old seat of Kooyong.

Mr Frydenberg was one of the biggest losers of the 2022 federal election, losing his blue ribbon Liberal seat in the heart of Melbourne to teal independent Monique Ryan.

Rumours of his political comeback began to emerge at the weekend as cabinet colleagues advocated for his return.

This is despite the party preselecting 31-year-old Amelia Hamer for Kooyong.

But on Monday, the former treasurer for the Morrison government put the rumours to rest.

“I am not rushing back to politics, my position on contesting the next election remains unchanged,” he said in a post on X (formerly Twitter) to his 117,027 followers that afternoon.

Former federal treasurer Josh Frydenberg has ruled out a return to federal politics, putting rumours that he would run again in his old seat of Kooyong to rest. Picture: NewsWire / David Crosling

Re the recent speculation about Kooyong: I am not rushing back to politics, my position on contesting the next election remains unchanged. I will continue to support the Liberal Party and our local candidate Amelia Hamer.

— Josh Frydenberg (@JoshFrydenberg) June 3, 2024

“I will continue to support the Liberal Party and our local candidate Amelia Hamer.”

Mr Frydenberg held the seat for 12 years until it was claimed by Ms Ryan with a 52.9 per cent margin in 2022.

His was one of several seats lost by the party to teal independents who ran in Liberal-held electorates in metropolitan areas during the federal election that year.

Mr Frydenberg is now chair of the Australian division of global investment bank Goldman Sachs and recently produced a documentary on the rise in anti-Semitism for Sky Australia.

In September last year he said the decision to not recontest Kooyong was “a difficult decision and one I have been weighing up for some time.”

Monique Ryan (right) won the seat of Kooyong from Mr Frydenberg during the 2022 Federal Election with a margin of 52.9 per cent: Picture: NewsWire / David Crosling

Mr Frydenberg (left, pictured with Coalition foreign affairs spokesman Simon Birmingham) has since taken up a new role as the Australian division of global investment bank Goldman Sachs since the election. Picture: NewsWire / Andrew Henshaw

“It was an enormous privilege to serve our local community for nearly 12 years and be the Liberal Party’s candidate at the last five federal elections,” he said.

Karen Andrews, the former industry minister in the Morrison government, said Mr Frydenberg was someone the party needed to bring back into federal politics.

“I think that we now have the opportunity to revisit what has been happening in Victoria, to look at about where and how we could possibly get Josh Frydenberg back into federal parliament,” she told Nine newspapers on Sunday.

The renewed speculation over Mr Frydenberg’s future follows the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) recommending the neighbouring seat of Higgins be abolished.

AEC Commissioner Tom Rogers said the changes in Victoria were required to enable a decrease from 39 to 38 electoral divisions because of a drop in the state’s population.

Under the plan, voters in the seat of Higgins – which covers the suburbs of Armadale, Kooyong, Malvern, Prahran and Toorak – will be redistributed to the neighbouring electorates of Chisholm, Hotham, Kooyong, Macnamara and Melbourne.