Former treasurer and deputy Liberal leader Josh Frydenberg will not attempt a political comeback at the next federal election, despite speculation he would try to reopen nominations for his former Victorian seat of Kooyong.
Since the Victorian draft electoral redistribution was released last week, commentators and politicians have gone into overdrive speculating whether the former deputy leader would push for the reopening of the Liberal preselection in Kooyong.
The redistribution abolished the seat of Higgins and dramatically reshaped the boundaries in Kooyong – the seat Frydenberg lost to Teal independent Monique Ryan at the last election.
The Liberal Party has picked Oxford graduate Amelia Hamer, 31, to contest Kooyong, and turning her arm to step aside would be a jarring look for a party without female representation.
Mr Frydenberg wants to continue his burgeoning business career – he is a senior executive at Goldman Sachs – and he also understands that a comeback would be extremely difficult to orchestrate as pre-selections have already taken place in Victoria.
Walking away from politics: Former treasurer Josh Frydenberg (pictured) will not attempt a comeback in Kooyong
Amelia Hamer (photo) has been pre-selected as the Liberal candidate for Kooyong
Party insiders expect Frydenberg to formally rule out any interest in contesting the seat again in the coming days.
“If he doesn’t, it will only reflect badly on him,” one senior Liberal pointedly told Daily Mail Australia.
Some older Liberals want the distraction to end so that attention can return to the problems facing the Labor government, especially over the immigration portfolio.
Rumors of a possible comeback gained momentum last weekend when former minister Karen Andrews suggested there should be scope for a comeback in Frydenberg, but today senior Victorian Liberals including Senator Jane Hume poured cold water on the idea.
Ms Andrews has been an outspoken critic of Peter Dutton and Scott Morrison since the 2022 election defeat and will retire at the next election.
“It was just another parting shot,” a Liberal MP told Daily Mail Australia.
A member of Dutton’s shadow cabinet told Daily Mail Australia: ‘A Josh comeback would be a circus and only cause speculation about who leads the party if Peter doesn’t win. It is the last thing we need if we have any real chance of turning Labor into a one-term government.”
Boundary changes could make it harder for Teal independent Monique Ryan (pictured) to stop the Liberal Party
While a return of Frydenberg would certainly add depth to the opposition line-up, he would not join the opposition frontbench as a candidate until after the election.
If he wins, Frydenberg is unlikely to hold the same senior positions and portfolios as he did during Scott Morrison’s premiership.
The current shadow treasurer is Angus Taylor, the current deputy Liberal leader is Sussan Ley. Neither is willing to voluntarily step aside for Mr Frydenberg.
If the Liberals lose the election due to poor electoral performance, it would make it difficult for Mr Frydenberg to win back his seat, even if it would give him a real shot at the opposition leadership after the defeat.
These are all factors the former treasurer weighed before deciding he was happy to leave his political career in the past, at least for now.
