The Liberal Party’s candidate for Whitlam has withdrawn from the race – just 13 days after she was declared a federal election contender – and says a Green or an independent might be better suited to the role.
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Dr Currie had been tipped to face off against Labor incumbent Stephen Jones. However, a three-sentence statement released by the Liberal Party on Wednesday morning revealed she was “not in a position to continue with the campaign”.
Election 2016: Liberal candidate quits. Video: SMH
“We wish her all the best,” the statement said.
“An announcement regarding a new candidate will be made shortly.”
Dr Currie’s brief candidacy in Whitlam was her first political tilt since a 2007 run for the Senate.
“My home base is up in the highlands,” she told the Mercury on May 12.
“While I have work commitments in Sydney, if I’m elected them I’ll obviously be full-time in the area.”
A businesswoman with 40 years experience in the banking and financial planning sectors, Dr Currie later raised eyebrows by referring to the Illawarra as the “lowlands”.
The Mercury sought comment from Dr Currie on Wednesday.
Earlier on Wednesday, she told the ABC she was “like a general with no troops” and claimed Liberal Party branches in the Illawarra and Southern Highlands didn’t want a candidate to nominate in the first place.
“I’ve encountered some remarkable geographic locations; it is an area that needs a remarkable person who can drive vast distances up a number of inclines. It also needs someone who can unite a couple of very disparate groups,” she said.
“At the moment there are no Liberal party branches in the Illawarra and there are only three in the Highlands.
“Therefore I am like a general with no troops. It is very difficult for me to mount any sort of reasonable campaign with no troops, as any general would know.”
Dr Currie also compared herself to Donald Trump, saying she didn’t have time to mobilise those troops or “produce my own posters”.
“I’m self-funding but I don’t have his [Trump’s] resources,” she said.
Dr Currie indicated the electorate needed “a very, very strong person who can unite a number of people to preserve it - possibly an independent, possibly a Green”.
“Somebody with a lot of leverage in what looks like being a very divided Government on a knife edge. To be able to instrumentalise the best outcomes for this area,” she said.
“I cannot offer that and meanwhile I don’t believe that I need to be a sacrificial lamb, travelling a number of steep inclines that have yet to be fixed.”