GoBoat Australia founder Nick Tyrrell is expected to be nominated. Photo: GoBoat Australia.
Canberra Liberals president Nick Tyrell is being touted as a potential Senate preselection candidate when the local party chooses the member it hopes will restore its ACT representation in the upper house.
The party’s management committee has decided to hold a preselection in November this year for the lead Senate candidate in the ACT for the next federal election, due in 2028.
Party members expect Mr Tyrell to nominate.
A successful businessman as the founder of GoBoat Australia & NZ, Mr Tyrell was elected party president in February last year after public infighting within the Canberra Liberals.
The same month, the party preselected Jacob Vadakkedathu as its lead Senate candidate only to have him face disendorsement over discontent about his performance and claims about the unauthorised auction of a cricket bat signed by three former Test captains.
He survived but only managed half a quota in the election.
The decision to hold a preselection early in the term is in stark contrast to the previous approach, which gave candidates little more than a year to campaign.
It became even more complicated with sitting MLAs manoeuvring and Legislative Assembly candidates campaigning for the October 2024 local elections, causing strife amid the jostling.
The party now appears to want to provide some clear air to give a viable candidate the best chance to wrest back the Senate seat lost by Zed Seselja to independent Senator David Pocock.
Whoever it is will need a public profile, time to campaign and the full support of the party, with Senator Pocock’s position stronger and Labor’s Katy Gallagher a senior minister in a seemingly impregnable Albanese Government after May’s rout.
But that could easily change in the next couple of years.
In an email to members seeking nominations, divisional director Adam Wojtonis said the Liberal Party needed a strong, effective voice to stand up for its values, and for Canberrans.
He said preselecting a candidate now provided time to connect with voters and build a campaign to best compete with the Pocock/Labor political machines.
“We need a strong Liberal voice for Canberra to take up the fight to the Albanese Labor government and support Sussan Ley and the Federal Liberal team locally,” he said.
“That’s why we are looking for a Senate candidate now to lead the ACT Liberal team to the next federal election.”
Nominations close at midday on Wednesday, 8 October; the list of nominations will be announced on Wednesday, 15 October; the preselection meeting will take place on Sunday, 8 November at Eastlake Football Club in Griffith.
If the number of ACT Senate seats change, the candidate preselected will continue to be the lead candidate on the Senate ticket.
