Deputy Nationals leader Bridget McKenzie this week refused to rule out running for the federal seat of Mallee, vacated by her colleague Andrew Broad.
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Mr Broad decided on Tuesday not to re-contest his seat, following revelations he travelled to Hong Kong and dined with a younger woman he met online, charging taxpayers for the domestic leg of the trip.
Nationals Party President Larry Anthony told Fairfax Media he would like to see a Nationals woman candidate for Mallee, which includes the town of Maryborough.
When quizzed by reporters about a possible tilt in the lower house, Senator McKenzie, who has an office in Bendigo, said: “There’s been a lot of speculation in recent times about what I, as Senator for Victoria, am going to do. I can tell you what I’m not going to do.”
“It is not going to give up on representing the great state of Victoria, give up for fighting for rural and regional Australia. I’m deputy leader of the Nationals.
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“My role is to support the strong leadership of Michael McCormack and what we as a team have been able to deliver this year for regional Australia.”
Senator McKenzie has been the most high-profile candidate touted for Mallee, a move which would also make Ms McKenzie eligible for party leadership.
Senator McKenzie in October announced she would move her office from Bendigo to Wodonga in 2019, which fuelled speculation she would run as a candidate in the federal seat of Indi.
Maryborough was moved into the seat of Mallee by the Australian Electoral Commission in June.
The AEC reshuffled various electoral boundaries across Victoria to create room for an extra federal seat, which has been added in Melbourne’s west to account for population growth.
The Central Goldfields Shire formally opposed the move at the time in a submission to the AEC, with chief administrator Noel Harvey suggesting the shire will be “adversely affected” and the changes would be “a detriment to the community”.
The Bendigo Advertiser contacted Senator McKenzie for comment.
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