Kerryn Phelps to stand as an independent in Wentworth by-election

High-profile doctor Kerryn Phelps announces tilt at Wentworth with jabs at Liberal Dave Sharma and a pitch to stop ‘the hard right’.

Dr Kerryn Phelps with supporters during the official announcement of her candidacy for the federal seat of Wentworth in Sydney on Sunday.

High-profile Sydney doctor Kerryn Phelps will stand as an independent in the by-election for the seat left vacant by former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull.

Dr Phelps, a local GP, Sydney City Councillor and AMA president, announced her decision at a press conference on Sunday morning in the heart of the blue ribbon eastern suburbs seat that the Liberal party has never lost.

She says she was prompted to stand because of “the revolving door of leadership in Canberra” over the past decade had weakened the standing of politicians and the major parties.

“I’m not here as a destabilising influence. I’m here to bring integrity and stability to the political processes in Canberra,” Dr Phelps said.

“I say right from the outset my intention is not to block supply. My intention is to give an independent voice to a lot of the concerns that the Australian people have particularly about the policies that might come from the hard right of the Liberal Party and the Coalition.

It is supposed to be a people’s parliament, it is supposed to be a house of representatives and it hasn’t been representing the voice of the Australian people for too long.”

She says it’s time to bring back some integrity, stability and common sense to the federal Parliament.

Dr Phelps said she had been contacted by hundreds of people in Wentworth who were angry and confused “at the sacking of Malcolm Turnbull”.

“Why are we having a by-election in the first place? The current Prime Minister has given us no explanation as to why the previous local member, Malcolm Turnbull, is no longer the local member.”

Kerryn Phelps has confirmed she will run as an Independent for the seat of Wentworth.

.@drkerrynphelps: I am not here as a destabilising influence. I am here to bring integrity and stability to the political processes in Canberra.

MORE: https://t.co/ykweMevBOK #auspol pic.twitter.com/hmmsU5ET4l

— Sky News Australia (@SkyNewsAust) September 16, 2018

She also took a not-so-subtle swipe at the anointed Liberal Party candidate Dave Sharma, who lives 24 kilometres outside of the electorate, on Sydney’s upper north shore. Mr Sharma, a former Australian ambassador to Israel who is expected to bring significant fundraising clout, was preselected despite Mr Morrison saying he wanted a woman candidate

“I’ve been a member of this local community for almost 20 years and this community is important to me.

“I know this community very well. This is going to be a grassroots campaign. This is not a billionaire’s club, this is about the people of Wentworth.”

Dr Phelps said her track record as a doctor, health communicator and advocate, one of the leaders in the marriage equality campaign, author, and working mother of three, gives her the skills to be sit in the federal Parliament. She said her campaign for Wentworth would be a grassroots campaign by and for the people of Wentworth, much like the YES campaign for same-sex marriage.

AAP