Second leading Liberal moderate quits, saying a woman should get his seat

Coalition frontbencher and former minister Paul Fletcher has become the second moderate Liberal to announce his departure from federal politics in as many months, opening a marginal seat vacancy and marking a thinning in his faction’s senior ranks.

Fletcher insisted his departure was not linked to the fact that a teal independent, Nicolette Boele, won a 12 per cent swing against him at the last election, making his northern Sydney electorate of Bradfield marginal.

Liberal Paul Fletcher is resigning from parliament after 15 years as an MP.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

“My decision is emphatically not due to any lack of confidence about our prospects of holding Bradfield,” Fletcher said. “On the contrary, I believe we are very well placed to not just hold Bradfield, but improve on our 2022 result.”

Fletcher, a senior moderate Liberal who held communications, social services and infrastructure ministries in the last Coalition government, will move to a private sector role, which has not yet been announced. Party sources said his retirement had been in the works for months and Opposition Leader Peter Dutton was aware of it, though the announcement took even close colleagues by surprise.

His exit closely follows that of fellow moderate, foreign affairs spokesman Simon Birmingham, who announced last month he would quit his Senate seat, and means Dutton may have to replace two senior MPs in his shadow cabinet before the next federal election.

Bradfield is one of the teal movement’s key targets after Boele went within 4 per cent of beating Fletcher in 2022.

Fletcher informed Liberal Party Bradfield members of his retirement on Tuesday morning, saying “it’s time for renewal”, and refused to endorse a successor.

“The choice of candidate is a decision for our party and not for me as the outgoing MP,” he said. “I will say just one thing: I think it would be a smart move to choose one of our outstanding Liberal women to carry the Liberal banner in Bradfield.

“But whoever is chosen will have my full support and I will work closely with him or her up until the election.”

Salesforce executive director Gisele Kapterian, a senior staffer to then-foreign minister Julie Bishop when the Coalition was last in government, is firming as one of two favourites to replace Fletcher. She had planned to stand for North Sydney, but the seat was abolished in September.

Kapterian, who is a moderate, confirmed to this masthead she would stand for preselection but declined to comment further.

Penny George, director of corporate affairs at drugmaker AstraZeneca and the wife of NSW Liberal MLC Scott Farlow, is another potential candidate but is unlikely to have the numbers because of her factional alignment with the “soft right” grouping.

“At the moment, I am currently considering my options to run,” George said. “It is a surprise about Paul’s retirement. I need some time to consider my options and how I can contribute to my local community in the Australian parliament.”

Former NSW treasurer Matt Kean was exploring the possibility of running in Bradfield before he took on a job offered by the Albanese government to run the Climate Change Authority. Kean, who declined to comment, is unlikely to put his name forward.

Teal candidate Boele said she was standing again and thanked Fletcher for his contribution to Bradfield.

“For 75 years, one political party has held Bradfield. Now is the opportunity for an independent to make a difference for Bradfield,” she said.

“As I continue to meet people across Bradfield, they tell me they want a representative who is loyal to locals, not to Peter Dutton.”

The teal MP for North Sydney, Kylea Tink, had eyed a run in Bradfield after her electorate was abolished, which would have split the grouping’s vote. But she decided against it on the weekend and backed Boele.

At a press conference outside his electorate office, Fletcher expressed gratitude for his 15-year political career and insisted that his and Birmingham’s resignations would not damage the Coalition’s election chances.

Fletcher reiterated criticism of the teals he made in a speech last week that the grouping was a “green left con job” designed to dupe traditional Liberal voters, and denied his decision to step down was motivated by the teals’ performance.

In a statement, Fletcher said he was proud to have delivered the eSafety Commissioner, the Mobile Black Spots Program, Western Sydney Airport, the News Media Bargaining Code and new funding and tax offsets for TV, movies and digital games.

Treasurer Jim Chalmers said the Fletcher and Birmingham’s departures showed that the Liberal Party had shifted to the right.

“There is no place for moderates in the Liberal party,” he told reporters.

But Fletcher said at a press conference in Sydney that Dutton had been a “consultative, inclusive” leader.

“He has paid new attention to the views of Liberals across the full spectrum of views and philosophical traditions which make up our great party,” Fletcher said.

Fletcher said he would spend the remainder of his time in politics supporting Dutton and the Coalition’s bid to win government, including by highlighting the teals’ voting record on issues such as conflict in the Middle East.

“Now, Bradfield has the second-biggest Jewish community of any federal electorate in NSW,” Fletcher said. “I will be continuing, and our new candidate, I’m sure, will do the same, to make sure that the people of Bradfield understand the voting record of the teals now they can make up their own minds.”

As he prepared to leave parliament, he said: “I’ll be finishing up with a continuing belief and confidence in our democratic system, perhaps tempered a little bit by some greater knowledge and experience, but I remain a strong believer in our democracy.”

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