Gisele Kapterian wins Liberal preselection for Teals target Bradfield in Sydney

A tech executive backed by former NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian has won preselection for a Liberal seat that is a Teals target, defeating Warren Mundine.

Newly endorsed Liberal candidate Gisele Kapterian is seen giving a speech during a special event for a Liberal preselection campaign for Bradfield at Lindfield in Sydney. Picture: Newswire/ Gaye Gerard

Gisele Kapterian, the tech executive backed by former NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian, has won the preselection for the blue-ribbon Liberal seat of Bradfield, beating prominent anti-Voice campaigner Warren Mundine.

The Salesforce executive won a majority of votes after just one round of voting, beating Mr Mundine 207 to 171.

Ms Kapterian was selected from a three-person race, which also included renowned Sydney cardiologist Michael Feneley, however he lacked the factional support.

She will now be tasked with retaining the critical blue-ribbon seat again Teal independent Nicolette Boele, who shaved the former blue-ribbon seat down to a 4.2 per cent margin (from 16.6 per cent) in 2022.

Ms Kapterian, the moderate’s pick, received glowing commendations from party heavyweights including Ms Berejiklian and ex-federal treasurer Joe Hockey.

Liberal heavyweights including Joe Hockey and Gladys Berejiklian came out to support Ms Kapterian at a campaign event this week. Picture: NewsWire/ Gaye Gerard

Ms Kapterian thanked longtime Bradfield incumbent Paul Fletcher for being a “diligent and determined fighter”.

“Paul has served this community with distinction for 15 years, and has been a diligent and determined fighter for the needs of the people of Bradfield – no problem was ever too difficult or concern too small for Paul to roll up his sleeves and go into bat for local residents,” she said.

”Paul has embodied the ethos of local service and national leadership.”

She said she would campaign on a platform of reducing cost-of-living pressures and supporting small business.

“There is a lot at stake for our community at the coming election, because another three years of Albanese Labor Government will decimate family budgets, set new records for business closures and their Budget mismanagement will mean more cuts to our services and infrastructure,” she added.

“Households are incredibly stressed about paying off their post-Christmas credit card bill, and this Labor government only keeps adding to their struggles.”

Mr Mundine was backed by the party’s conservative arm, including former prime minister Tony Abbott.

In a statement, Mr Mundine congratulated Ms Kapterian on her win. “Congratulations to Gisele and let’s win the seat,” he said.

In the lead-up to the preselection battle, Mr Mundine personally doorknocked preselectors.

Ms Kapterian’s win comes after Liberal leader Peter Dutton was asked this week whether the Liberal Party should make more effort to preselect female candidates in safe seats.

While he said he “of course” wanted to see “more women running seats,” he said the party had a “democratically-based process where our members make decisions about who the candidates will be”.

Following his retirement announcement, Mr Fletcher also expressed his desire for the Liberal Party to preselect an “outstanding Liberal woman” to fight for the seat.

Warren Mundine. Picture: NewsWire/ Richard Gosling

Deputy Liberal leader Sussan Ley also publicly threw her support behind Ms Kapterian, stating she was best-placed to represent the electorate.

“In Gisele, the people of Bradfield would find a Federal MP who isn’t just a community champion capable of advocating on their local issues, but also more than able to serve in future high office,” she said.

“Like so many people in Bradfield, Gisele is a first-class example of Australia’s multicultural success story. She resonates with her local community because she is representative of her local community.

“Warren Mundine is an ideological powerhouse in our party and as was demonstrated during the Voice referendum, he is a strong and persuasive communicator.”

NewsWire