Sophie Mirabella has won preselection in her old seat of Indi on a vote of 126 to 66, giving her the right to run against the sitting MP, independent Cathy McGowan in the next election.
But as well as fighting McGowan, Mirabella will also face a National party candidate and a Labor candidate in the Victorian seat.
On Sunday, Mirabella beat opponents including Melbourne-based anaesthetist Andrew Walpole and Wodonga businessman Kevin Ekendahl, who had the support of Victorian Liberal powerbroker Michael Kroger.
Speaking after the preselection to reporters, Mirabella described the 2013 campaign as “very brutal and difficult campaign” and said she had learned a lot as a result of the outcome.
“You don’t go through an experience like I did and not be changed – I made mistakes, I got the balance wrong,” Mirabella said. “I spent more time campaigning elsewhere when I should have been back here in Indi.”
Because the seat was lost to a non-Coalition MP, the rules clear the way for a National party candidate to stand.
The federal Nationals met in Indi earlier this year and leader Warren Truss declared that the electorate was determined to give the voters an option at the next election.
Former Victorian National MP Ken Jasper, who helped Cathy McGowan in the 2013 election, said he had no comment on Mirabella’s preselection but pointed out that the Nationals would be running a candidate against her in the seat.
“There is a lot of time between now and then so we will wait and see,” said Jasper.
Mirabella held Indi on a margin of 9% prior to 2013 when she lost the seat to McGowan. She was the only Coalition candidate to suffer such a strong swing against her in an election that swept Tony Abbott into office.
After she lost the seat, Mirabella, the former industry spokeswoman was appointed to the board of the government-owned Australian Submarine Corporation, a role that pays $71,680 a year.
Mirabella was a divisive figure within the parliament and the Coalition. Last week it was reported that the Nationals were considering “running dead” if Mirabella won the preselection. Their votes could swing the result against the Liberals.
Before the preselection contest, her opponent Walpole reportedly wrote to preselectors, warning them that the Liberals could lose the seat for decades if they made the wrong choice.
“Realistically we are faced with the possibility of losing this seat for decades, not just one term. We must choose wisely. I am a grassroots member of our party, not a career politician,” Walpole wrote.
Mirabella told preselectors she “got it wrong” in a letter leaked to her local paper, the Border Mail and suggested the Liberals need to run a “community campaign” to combat the incumbent, Cathy McGowan.
“Clearly, I got the balance wrong and needed to spend more time here in Indi,” wrote Mirabella. “This is something I take full responsibility for. My time out of the Canberra bubble has provided me with a renewed perspective ... The North East is where my home and heart is.”
McGowan, who ran a community-based campaign to oust Mirabella and win the seat in 2013, said it was a “wonderful thing” that the people for Indi would have a strong choice at the next election.
“Indi people will welcome the choice because democracy works well when there is strong competition,” said McGowan. “I will remain a strong independent voice for Indi, getting out and around the community and taking issues to Canberra and delivering, for example on the blackspot program which has just seen 30 mobile phone towers.
Labor candidate Eric Kerr said the Liberal party’s decision was a “slap in the face” for the voters of Indi, who rejected Mirabella last time.
“Sophie has failed that test not just once, there were many chances to redeem herself during her 12 years as the Member for Indi,” said Kerr.
“Let’s not forget also, the Sophie Mirabella who stood with those infamous signs proudly in the backdrop. JuLiar, Bob Brown’s Bitch & Ditch the Witch. This is simply disgusting behavior from an elected member of parliament and we deserve better.”
