Former Scott Morrison strategist Sasha Grebe eyes Warringah bid

Former Scott Morrison strategist Sasha Grebe has begun canvassing support to run as a Liberal Party candidate in the seat of Warringah.

Former Scott Morrison adviser Sasha Grebe.

Former Scott Morrison strategist Sasha Grebe has begun canvassing support to run as a Liberal Party candidate against Zali Steggall in the seat of Warringah, with senior party figures backing him as a promising option to return­ the seat to the Liberals at the next federa­l election.

Mr Grebe, currently a corporate adviser with Downer Group and a former director of communications for Mr Morrison, has signalled his strong intention to run for preselection to senior members of the Liberal Party.

He is understood to be promoting himself as a candidate with strong credentials on clim­ate change and renewable ­ener­gy, both defining issues for the shifting demographics in the area, a former Liberal stronghold that swung away from conservative politics at the 2019 election.

Mr Grebe helped establish a renewable energy company in Southeast Asia several years ago that thermally converts waste to gas energy. More recently he has been advocating the use of recyc­lable materials and waste to be reused for sustainable purposes.

These stand to play well to constituents of what is, essent­ially, a disparate electorate ­peppered with various political leanings and age groups, from conservative suburban pockets to left-leaning beachside locales.

Held for 25 years by former prime minister Tony Abbott, these constituents abandoned the Liberal Party in May to deliver Ms Steggall a thumping 57.2 per cent victory on a two-party-preferred basis. Ms Steggall ran as an independent.

Until then, Mr Abbott had held the seat with a healthy margi­n of 11.1 per cent.

The Australian has been told that, in addition to canvassing support from senior Liberals, Mr Grebe has been actively recruiting grassroots members to branches across Warringah, where he lives with his family, including those who voted for Ms Steggall.

He recently held a cocktail party for 80 of these people at the Balmoral Beach Club, a soiree attended­ by newly appointed ­ambassador to Washington and former NSW senator Arthur Sino­dinos and senior corporate figures, including AFL commissioner Gab Trainor and KPMG’s NSW chairman Doug Ferguson.

Mr Grebe did not respond to a request for comment, but local Liberal Party members The Australian spoke to confirmed that the 50-year-old had been rallying support and making his intentions known.

“(He) is expressing an interest to various party people that he would like be considered a candid­ate,” said Ian MacDonald, a local branch executive and a former­ campaign manager for Mr Abbott. “The good thing about Sasha is that he’s seeking advice from people in the party, and that’s a good thing.”

Mr Grebe was previously the director of marginal seats for the NSW Liberal Party when Mr Morrison was its state director. The two are understood to remain­ good friends.

“Most people in the party understand that to win the seat back we need to work out why we lost the seat, and part of that was obviously we lost some Liberal voters — and we need to get them back,” Mr MacDonald said.

The decision on a candidate would take in a number of factors, said one local Liberal Party ­member.

In addition to a strong position on climate change, considera­tions were being given to whether a male should be preselected to run against Ms Steg­gall.