Gladys Liu eyes seat in Victorian parliament

Former federal MP Gladys Liu has confirmed her nomination for Liberal Party preselection to contest a Victorian upper house seat and claimed her ultra-marginal seat of Chisholm was “unfairly targeted” in the election.

Liu, who said she still had “fire in the belly”, said the state opposition needed an experienced team to take on Daniel Andrews and the Labor Party at the November election, and announced she had nominated to represent the Liberals in the North-East Metropolitan Region.

Gladys Liu and Matthew Guy during the federal election campaign.Credit: Joe Armao

“My political career was terminated prematurely due to a massive national swing against the Liberals and the fact that my seat was heavily and unfairly targeted,” Liu said in a statement to The Age.

“I believe I still have a lot to offer. I started as a state candidate in this upper house region and progressed to have a career as an adviser to the then-premiers Ted Baillieu and Denis Napthine. I am now coming back with a lot more experience under my belt.”

Liu’s nomination came as Colleen Harkin, who stood as Liberal candidate for Macnamara in the May election, mounted a challenge against the party’s two most senior Victorian MPs: shadow treasurer David Davis and health spokeswoman Georgie Crozier.

Harkin has nominated for spots one, two and three on the Southern Metropolitan ticket. She unsuccessfully challenged Liberal frontbencher James Newbury for the seat of Brighton last year. Newbury received 115 votes, Felicity Frederico 66 and Harkin 14.

“[Harkin’s] a serial candidate. The economy and health are the two issues that we’re battling Daniel Andrews on,” one senior Liberal said.

“No real Liberal who wants to see the end of Labor would be mounting a challenge against the two Liberals responsible for those portfolios.”

During the federal election campaign, Harkin said that describing global warming as a climate emergency was almost child abuse, and she defended the views on trans women of Warringah candidate Katherine Deves.

In a statement to The Age at the time, Harkin said: “I accept my language was clumsy; the point I was seeking to make was that we should be teaching our children hope, not fear.”

Colleen Harkin was the Liberal candidate for Macnamara at the May federal election.

Macnamara was the final seat to be called for the ALP following a three-way tussle between Labor, the Liberal Party and the Greens. Harkin recorded a 7 per cent swing against the Liberals on a two-party preferred basis. She was contacted for comment on Monday.

Chisholm was one of the most marginal electorates heading into the 2022 federal election campaign, after Liu previously won the seat on a 0.57 per cent margin.

Labor’s Carina Garland now holds the eastern-suburbs electorate, centred around Box Hill, on a 6.32 per cent margin.

Twelve candidates ran in the seat, more than any electorate in Australia. Liberal leader Scott Morrison and Labor leader Anthony Albanese visited the seat several times over the course of the six-week campaign.

During one visit, Albanese announced federal Labor would commit $2.2 billion for the Andrews government’s signature Suburban Rail Loop project which will run through Box Hill.

“Corrupt, bankrupt and out of touch can sum up pretty well what the current Andrews government is,” Liu said.

“I have been on the ground listening to people day in and day out for the last four years. The arrogance of the Andrews government is obvious to even Labor supporters. People have been telling me Dan Andrews is all about himself and he has absolutely taken all Victorians for granted.

“Matthew Guy is desperate to form a competitive team leading up to the November election. With a low number of lower house MPs (many of them have margins less than 4 per cent) to start with, and a number of long-serving upper house members either left the party or announced retirement recently, Victorian Liberals would need candidates who have experience and are campaign-ready.”

Bruce Atkinson, the long-serving Liberal MP for Eastern Metropolitan (which has been renamed North-East Metropolitan), announced his retirement from politics last week and said he wanted an “outstanding woman” to replace him.

He is backing Ranjana Srivastava, an oncologist and Guardian columnist.

Several Liberal Party sources said Liu was unlikely to have the support of local branches but they did not believe there were any frontrunners in the race, although Srivastava was seen to have a greater chance at winning preselection because she had the support of Atkinson.

Preselected candidates are expected to be confirmed within the next month.

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