The Liberal Party has chosen a director of a pro gas group as its new candidate for the seat of Whitlam after it was forced to disendorse its previous candidate over his controversial views.
On Sunday, the Liberal Party named Nathaniel Smith as the new Liberal candidate for Whitlam. He is a former NSW state MP for the seat of Wollondilly, which he lost to independent Judy Hannan in 2023.
In its announcement, the party highlighted his record as CEO of the Master Plumbers Association of NSW and as a former state Liberal MP, but did not include a mention of his role as a director of Australians for Natural Gas.
Australians for Natural Gas describes itself as “a non-profit organisation advocating for affordable, reliable energy”.
According to reports from the ABC, his selection as a candidate has prompted calls for the Liberal Party to disclose if it has collaborated with Australians for Natural Gas.
It comes after the Liberal Party’s first choice for the seat, Benjamin Britton, was disendorsed over his controversial views that women should not serve in combat roles in the military.
Prior to his preselection, Britton told a podcast that the ADF needed to “remove females from combat corps” in order to “fix” our military. After these comments surfaced in the media, the Liberal Party announced Britton’s disendorsement and said his views were not held by the Coalition.
Smith belongs to the right faction of the Liberal Party and his father was a former attorney-general of NSW. His maiden speech in the NSW parliament included comments warning against what he described as “marxist brainwashing” of children in schools.
Support Women’s Agenda! We are 100% independent and women-owned. We’re covering the Federal Election from the perspective of what matters to women, and always keeping the issues that matter for women on the daily agenda. Foundation memberships are just $5 a month.
Bonus: you’ll receive our weekly editor’s wrap of the key stories to know every Saturday.