Liberal moderates concerned he could not secure north shore seat which was the only Liberal-held seat in Australia to vote yes in voice referendum
Anti-voice campaigner Warren Mundine had failed to gain Liberal party preselection for the Sydney federal seat of Bradfield.
Centrist candidate Gisele Kapterian beat out Mundine and heart specialist Michael Feneley. Local councillor Barbara Ward withdrew from the race last week.
Kapterian secured more than 200 of the preselection votes, with Mundine trailing on 171. Feneley captured 16 of the preselectors.
Kapterian, a Salesforce executive who was earlier preselected in the soon-to-be abolished seat of North Sydney in 2023, had the support of opposition deputy leader, Sussan Ley.
Ley said Kapterian represented the “future of Bradfield” as the Liberals look to fight off a growing independent vote in the seat held by retiring senior moderate, Paul Fletcher.
“I believe she affords us the greatest chance of success in what will be an extremely closely contested marginal seat, where the teal machine could potentially pour millions of dollars into trying to unseat us,” she said.
The former Liberal treasurer, Joe Hockey, had also endorsed Kapterian, describing her as having the “capacity to be a future leader of the Liberal party”.
Nicolette Boele, the popular teal candidate who reduced Fletcher’s margin to just 4.23% on a two-party preferred basis in 2022, will run again at the looming federal election.
Mundine had been endorsed by fellow leading anti-voice campaigners, including former Liberal prime minister Tony Abbott, senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price and former deputy prime minister John Anderson.
NSW Liberal moderates were concerned Mundine could not deliver the key seat, as Bradfield was the only Liberal-held seat in the country to return a majority yes vote in the voice referendum.
Mundine’s pitch was to “Make Bradfield safe again”, adding the electorate was not a “teal seat” with voters who could afford “luxury beliefs or who are naturally drawn to a Green-left/Labor alliance”.
“We don’t need to be teal-lite to win Bradfield,” Mundine said in an 11-page dossier obtained by Guardian Australia.
“We mustn’t define ourselves by reference to our opponents but must champion what we stand for as Liberals with leadership and courage, confident our values resonate with the Bradfield community.”
Guardian Australia has contacted Kapterian and Mundine for comment.
