Andrew Constance is set to become the Liberal Party candidate in the marginal seat of Gilmore on the New South WalesSouth Coast after three remaining candidates vying for pre-selection have pulled out of the race.<\/p>\n
Four candidates, including the Bega MP and former New South Wales Transport Minister, had nominated for pre-selection.<\/p>\n
But in an email to the Liberal party state executive, leaked to the ABC, Vincentia businesswoman Jemma Triberequested her nomination for pre-selection be withdrawn.<\/p>\n
\"Andrew Constance is an outstanding and experienced candidate who would be an incredible representative for our region,\" she wrote.<\/p>\n
\"I witnessed this at a recent public meeting regarding the Milton Ulladulla bypass, where I was extremely impressed by his engagement with the community.\"<\/p>\n
Ms Tribe said she would instead seek election in the New South Wales seat of South Coast,being vacated by Shelley Hancock.<\/p>\n
Sanctuary Point veteran Stephen Hayes also confirmed on Fridaymorning, he too would bebowing out of the race.<\/p>\n
\"Having examined the Section 44 constitutional issues in considerable detail with experienced legal advice I would not be able to unwind my business interests in a timely manner ahead of the forthcoming federal election,\" he said.<\/p>\n
\"Andrew Constance is an outstanding candidate.\"<\/p>\n
\"Andrew and I have agreed to work closely on raising awareness in the community and federally of the need to take a more robust approach to improving our national resilience,\" Mr Hayes said.<\/p>\n
Their withdrawals comehours after Shoalhaven Heads lawyer Paul Ell confirmed in a statement thathe had withdrawn from the contest before a ballot would be held, after winning a seat on Shoalhaven Council.<\/p>\n
The 31-year-old, who is also Gilmore's Federal Electoral Conference (FEC) president, had strong backing from local branch members.<\/p>\n
On Thursday, he instead endorsed Mr Constance for the marginal seat and denied he had been pushed.<\/p>\n
\"Absolutely not. And I want to make that abundantly clear that this decision has been mine to make and mine alone,\" he said.<\/p>\n
\"It is critical that we have a strong representative for the federal seat of Gilmore.<\/p>\n
\"My judgement is that the best candidate to win Gilmore is my friend Andrew Constance.<\/p>\n
Mr Constance has also received support from Prime MinisterScott Morrison, who previously said he would make a \"good member of our team\".<\/p>\n
Mr Constance said no pressure had been applied to his contenders.<\/p>\n
\"I was very prepared to have a local preselection and I had been working hard at that for the past month and a half,\" he said.<\/p>\n
\"I'm not going to expend any more energy on internal party processes.<\/p>\n
\"Quite frankly our community have had a gut full of the nature of politics and ultimately we're going to get some great community outcomes and I'm going to be very focused on that.\"<\/p>\n
This year, Gilmore's FEC was promised branch members would be given the opportunity to vote for the party's candidate, after Warren Mundine was controversially parachuted into the role in 2019.<\/p>\n
Several party members resigned in the wake of the Prime Minister's decision.<\/p>\n
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Andrew Constance set to become Liberal party candidate in marginal Gilmore, after contenders withdraw - ABC News<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Andrew Constance is set to become the Liberal Party candidate in the marginal seat of Gilmore on the New South WalesSouth Coast after three remaining candidates vying for pre-selection have pulled out of the race. Four candidates, including the Bega MP and former New South Wales Transport Minister, had nominated for pre-selection. Continue reading