Josh Frydenberg eyes Canberra return but Kooyong in doubt

The Liberal Party has begun paving the way for Josh Frydenberg to return to parliament amid resistance to spending another $2m-plus to regain Kooyong after the teal victory.

Josh Frydenberg’s timeline could take two election cycles, with the neighbouring seat of Higgins a possible target. Picture: Andrew Henshaw

The Liberal Party is plotting a return to politics for former treasurer Josh Frydenberg amid resistance to spending another $2m-plus to regain Kooyong after the teal victory.

The Kooyong Liberal electorate conference will meet on Thursday night in the wake of the election loss, with an internal ­battle looming over what is left of funds after millions were poured into the federal election.

This was both through the host seat of Kooyong but also in other parts of the party’s diminished empire.

Mr Frydenberg’s timeline for any return has not been set and could take two election cycles, with the neighbouring seat of Higgins a possible target, made easier to win because Labor will have to mount a strong campaign to try to retain it.

In Kooyong, the Labor and Greens vote collapsed when voters fled to teal candidate Monique Ryan, but preference flows are likely to be stronger to the Liberal Party in a seat like Higgins, where the ALP won’t be able to run dead.

Senior Liberal sources said while some party elders were still urging Mr Frydenberg to have another tilt at Kooyong, the growing consensus was it was high risk and “uncertain”.

“There is absolutely no guarantee the seat can be won back. Everyone in Hawthorn (an inner-eastern suburb in Kooyong) is running around in sandals and eating tofu. It’s gone,’’ a senior party figure said.

Mr Frydenberg is expected to resist being “parachuted” into outer east and southeastern Melbourne seats such as Monash or La Trobe, both of which have winnable margins, amid concerns there would be a voter revolt against a high-profile outsider.

“Josh will come back, it’s only a question of how and when,” a Liberal powerbroker said.

Mr Frydenberg has been inundated with private sector offers and was recently approached as a potential replacement for outgoing AFL chief Gillon McLachlan.

Running for the neighbouring seat of Higgins, which includes the rich-lister suburbs of Toorak and South Yarra, would require a significant internal shift, with the seat normally aligned with the moderate faction and historically controlled by people connected to former treasurer Peter Costello.

Sources said Mr Frydenberg and Mr Costello had a solid, workable relationship, both having been treasurers and deputy leaders of the party and are also well connected in the business world.

Mr Costello has, however, had only a limited role in party affairs since he left parliament in 2009.

Former Higgins MP and minister Kelly O’Dwyer helped Mr Frydenberg at the recent election during pre-polling.

The Kooyong meeting is expected to be attended by a large number of party members and will be used as a thank-you to ­people who handed out how-to-vote cards or volunteered elsewhere in the seat.

Sources said while there had been angst about the amount spent to try to keep Kooyong, Mr Frydenberg had raised “vast” sums of money for other seats.

He is widely seen as the best party fundraiser for many years, drawing heavily from Melbourne’s Jewish community and through Collins St connections.

Howard-era minister Rod Kemp is chairman of the Koo­yong electorate conference and a strong backer of Mr Frydenberg.

Another senior Liberal said the timeline for an attempted return to parliament was unclear, with a potential for it to come after what is likely to be Labor’s second term.

He said the challenge for the party was maximising its vote in the outer suburbs but not ignoring inner-city seats like Kooyong and Higgins. “I think Josh’s future is elsewhere and not in Kooyong, but we can’t afford to give up on seats. Once the independents’ honeymoon is over, we will find out quickly it’s politics as usual. We don’t want to write off seats.”