By Adam Gartrell, Richard Willingham and Mark Kenny
The race to replace outgoing Trade Minister Andrew Robb in his blue-ribbon Liberal seat "will be World War III" as frontrunners Georgina Downer and Tim Wilson and a swath of other contenders battle it out.
Ms Downer, daughter of former foreign minister Alexander Downer, and Mr Wilson, the outspoken Human Rights Commissioner, are lobbying hard to win preselection for the safe Melbourne seat of Goldstein.
While neither currently live inside the electorate they are both understood to have strong support bases among local pre-selectors.
Fairfax Media understands Ms Downer has the strong backing of a powerful group of Liberal frontbenchers in Parliament, including Josh Frydenberg, Greg Hunt and Mr Robb himself.
Alexander Downer's daughter, Georgina Downer, is a front-runner in the race to take Andrew Robb's seat.Credit: Facebook
But the high-profile Mr Wilson also has some powerful figures in his corner, particularly in state politics.
However, they won't be the only contenders. One senior liberal source said it "will be World War III" for the prized seat.
Other names that have emerged are party officer Marcus Bastiaan, who has a presence in the area, as well as John Osborn from Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, who moved to the electorate in recent years.
Mr Robb surprised colleagues by announcing his retirement on Wednesday, although he will stay in cabinet until the next election.
Tim Wilson, the Human Rights Commissioner, has some powerful figures in his corner, particularly in state politics.Credit: Justin McManus
The 64-year-old, who plans to go back into the private sector, says there will be a "very strong field" to replace him.
"I do feel they must be chosen on merit and I have no doubt the party members will do that," he said. "But I would hope there will be a strong female candidate in the field."
Asked if that was an endorsement of Ms Downer, he said: "Georgina Downer, I think, would be an outstanding member."
Mr Robb said Mr Wilson would also be an "excellent candidate".
Ms Downer is a lawyer turned diplomat who served in Australia's embassy in Japan for four years. The mother of two has a Masters in Public International Law from the London School of Economics and degrees in Law and Commerce from the University of Melbourne. She is fluent in Japanese and French.
A member of the Victorian Liberal Party's administrative committee, she also made several appearances on The Bolt Report, conservative commentator Andrew Bolt's now cancelled weekend television show.
Mr Bolt has endorsed her for the seat, which some figures believe is important because his blog is popular among the older and more conservative of the electorate's 800 branch members.
If she wins pre-selection, she will become the fourth generation of her family to enter Parliament. Her grandfather, Alick Downer, was also a Cabinet minister and great grandfather John Downer was a senator and South Australian premier.
She recently wrote about the need to get more women into Parliament.
"More women in politics means a more representative democracy and sends the message that Australian society is inclusive of women," she wrote for Fairfax Media last year.
Mr Wilson was a policy analyst with the Institute of Public Affairs, the Liberal-aligned free-market think tank. He was controversially appointed to the Human Rights Commission by Attorney-General George Brandis two years ago.
The pre-selection is expected to be settled by mid-March.
Jockeying is already well under way for Mr Robb's portfolio too, with Environment Minister Greg Hunt and International Development Minister Steve Ciobo expected to be among those in the running for the promotion.