The veteran federal MP Russell Broadbent is quitting the Liberal party and will sit on the crossbench as an independent after he lost preselection to recontest his Victorian seat of Monash.
Broadbent announced the decision in the party room on Tuesday, citing the margin of his defeat in his preselection (161 to 16) to Mary Aldred, a government relations executive at Fujitsu who will contest the seat for the Liberals at the next election.
Broadbent entered parliament in 1990 and won the Gippsland seat of Monash, east of Melbourne, with 52.9% of the two-party vote in 2022.
He is the third lower house MP the Coalition has lost since the election, after Andrew Gee decided to quit the Nationals over the voice to parliament, and Alan Tudge’s resignation, which resulted in the Aston byelection defeat.
Guardian Australia understands that Broadbent made no criticisms of the Liberal party’s policy direction in his speech to the party room, and said that Peter Dutton was the right leader for the Coalition.
In what one MP described as a “mic drop” moment, Broadbent walked out of the party room immediately after his speech, leaving some confused as to whether he was quitting parliament altogether or just the party.
Colleagues have since confirmed he is quitting the party and party room only, meaning no byelection will be held in his seat.
Although his exit was dramatic, one Liberal said the move was “no surprise” to some because Broadbent had informed party whips and the Liberal leader, Peter Dutton, as early as Monday of his decision.
Dutton acknowledged Broadbent’s contribution to the party after he had left but also stressed that the party’s blessing to represent it at an election is an honour, not a right.
The Victorian Liberal party president, Philip Davis, said the party “would like to thank Russell Broadbent for his 25 years of service as a Liberal member in the federal parliament”. “We wish him well for the future,” Davis said.
Victoria’s opposition leader, John Pesutto, said he was sad to hear Broadbent had quit the Liberal party.
“I’m disappointed that he’s left,” Pesutto told reporters outside state parliament.
“I worked for Russell Broadbent as my first political job back in the 90s, back in Traralgon.
“He’s been a long term Liberal party member ... I wish him well.”
But Pesutto said he “couldn’t be happier that Mary Aldred’s been preselected”. “She’s going to be a star.”
Broadbent came to prominence in the John Howard era for his advocacy for refugees and asylum seekers in detention. In 2017 he called for an end to offshore detention.
His political philosophy is difficult to classify. He was one of only four MPs to vote against marriage equality in 2017 and has also spoken out against Covid vaccines.
In September, before the referendum to enshrine an Indigenous voice in the constitution, Broadbent backflipped on his earlier support for the voice amendment.
He serves as deputy chair of parliament’s joint committee on human rights and on the committee examining Workforce Australia job services. He previously chaired the powerful privileges committee.
