Liberal Party dumps NSW candidate for the seat of Whitlam over claims women shouldn’t be in the army

Peter Dutton has made the big call to dump one of his candidates over some previous comments that caused backlash.

Peter Dutton has been forced to dump his candidate for the NSW seat of Whitlam after it emerged he had once claimed the Defence Force “need to remove females from combat corps” in order to “fix” our military.

News.com.au revealed last week that in a series of fringe podcast interviews before his December preselection for the NSW seat of Whitlam, Benjamin Britton blamed “diversity and equity quotas, Marxist ideology and woke ideologies” for weakening Australia’s defence.

Mr Britton, who served Australia in the 3rd Battalion Royal Australian Regiment, pointed to the Federal Government’s 2013 decision to lift gender restrictions on frontline combat positions.

On Sunday, the Liberal Party took swift action, telling news.com.au he was no longer a candidate.

“The Administrative Committee of the NSW Division met today and has endorsed Nathaniel Smith as the Liberal candidate for the seat of Whitlam,” he said.

Benjamin Britton was disendorsed. Picture: Liberal Party

The Liberal Party has now endorsed Nathaniel Smith. Picture: Supplied

The Liberal Party explained that this “this follows a decision to disendorse Benjamin Britton over views expressed which were not previously disclosed and are inconsistent with the party’s position”.

“Nathaniel is raising his two daughters with his wife Christine in the Southern Highlands. He is the Chief Executive of the Master Plumbers Association of NSW, providing a strong voice for the plumbing industry, and working to deliver a better deal for small and family businesses,” it said.

“Starting his career as an apprentice plumber, going on to run his own plumbing business, before taking up tertiary studies in communications and joining a communication consultancy. In 2019 he was elected as the Member for Wollondilly, serving until 2023.

“Nathaniel has been a passionate advocate for small businesses and investment in trades and training.

“He will campaign to ease Labor’s cost of living burden on local households and small businesses, and help people struggling under the growing burden of mortgages, rents, and everyday expenses.”

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton. Picture: NewsWire/Thomas Lisson

Mr Britton’s previous comments

Though he had served alongside “tremendous” women in the ADF, Mr Britton told right-wing figure Joel Jammal that “if we’re to fix our defence force, unfortunately, they’re going to need to remove females from combat corps”.

About 20 per cent of Australia’s military personnel are women.

“Their hips are being destroyed because they can’t cope with the carrying of the heavy loads and the heavy impacts that’s required from doing combat-related jobs,” Mr Britton said in the podcast interview with Jammal last July.

“I knew some of the toughest men I’ve ever met in my life, absolute nails. War left them a shaking mess. Drug addicted. Can’t go outside the house because they have panic attacks.

“If war can do that to them and destroy them, why would you want to send your beautiful women? Your females – the ones that are the backbone of your society. Your society only exists because of women … Why would you want to sacrifice them in war, on the altar?”

Mr Britton did not respond to news.com.au’s request for comment.

The Coalition said Mr Britton’s comments were ‘inconsistent with the party’s position’. Picture: Thomas Lisson/NewsWire

Mr Dutton had previously praised Mr Britton as an ‘outstanding candidate’. Picture: Instagram/@peterduttonmp

In January, the Coalition leader shared a photo alongside Mr Britton during a visit to Moss Vale, which falls under the seat of Whitlam – currently held by retiring Labor MP Stephen Jones. Mr Britton will face Labor’s Carol Berry and the National’s Katrina Hodgkinson in the election.

“Ben’s working hard in his community and standing up for local families and small businesses, drawing on his dedication as a veteran and his leadership in the defence industry,” the post’s caption read.

“This area has been ignored by a local Labor member who is asleep at the wheel, but with our positive plans and an outstanding candidate like Ben, we’ll get this region and our country back on track.”

There is no suggestion that Mr Dutton shares Mr Britton’s views on females serving in ADF combat roles.

Mr Britton unsuccessfully ran for the United Australia Party in the 2022 federal election. Other controversial views he has expressed in the past 12 months included that exposure to pornography was “pushing” young men into “transgender desires”.

“This is why we see extreme, unrealistic sexual practices and desires in the community (that) have risen massively over the last, say, 40 years, as a direct result of pornography,” he said.

Originally published as Liberal Party dumps NSW candidate for the seat of Whitlam over claims women shouldn’t be in the army