The conservative Liberal MP Kevin Andrews will be GetUp’s first Victorian target in this year’s federal election.
On Wednesday evening the progressive campaign group announced at a members’ meeting at Kensington town hall that it will target the seat of Menzies, which Andrews won with a 10.5% two-party preferred margin but is estimated to be 7.6% after a redistribution.
After committing to campaign against the former prime minister Tony Abbott and the home affairs minister, Peter Dutton, GetUp polled its members in January to ask which other “hard-right” MPs should get the boot at the election, expected in May.
GetUp’s national director, Paul Oosting, told Guardian Australia that Andrews was the top Victorian MP in the poll and in the top 10 nationally because he played a strong “behind-the-scenes role” in the conservative wing of the Liberal party.
He cited the fact Andrews was a founding member of the pro-coal Monash Forum, advocated a vote against marriage equality, and opined that Andrews was “the originator of the ‘gang’ rhetoric aimed at African communities” in Melbourne.
Greg Hunt “also rated highly”, which could indicate the health minister’s seat of Flinders is a future target, although Oosting said that would depend whether members volunteered in sufficient numbers to expand its electoral map.
Oosting said that GetUp was not aware of any high-profile independents challenging Andrews but had decided to target the “not traditionally marginal seat” because it was “difficult but necessary” to remove Andrews.
“We’ve seen at the Victorian election that double-digit swings have already happened recently and that could remain the trend,” he said.
The thumping re-election of Daniel Andrews’ government at the November state election convinced Labor that at least six more seats in Victoria are in play in that state at the federal election, although some Liberals think Bill Shorten’s economic agenda could help it hold its blue-ribbon seats.
The GetUp campaign adds to the government’s headaches after the announced retirements of three ministers and a crop of moderate ex-Liberals running as independents including the MP Julia Banks, who is attempting to unseat her former colleague Hunt, and Zali Steggall, who is running against Abbott.
Asked if GetUp will endorse Steggall and Banks, Oosting replied that GetUp will assess all candidates “on their merits” depending on their policies and “whether they are in contention to win”.
The poll – which only offered Coalition MPs as potential targets – also included the energy minister, Angus Taylor, the attorney general, Christian Porter, as well as the influential conservative backbenchers George Christensen, Craig Kelly and Michael Sukkar. GetUp has more than 220,000 members in Victoria; Andrews topped the poll in that state with 3,600 votes.
GetUp has drawn the ire of the Coalition for its refusal to identify as an “associated entity” of the opposition Labor and Greens parties particularly after its decision in 2016 to hand out how-to-vote cards directing preferences away from the Liberal and National parties.
GetUp will give voters how-to-vote cards, which Oosting said were “as important a part of democracy as the democracy sausage [sizzle]” because they guide voters to candidates who have progressive policies, like combatting climate change.
