Patron Senator for Eden-Monaro Jim Molan faces a possible exit from the upper house after a Liberal Party preselection result will see him placed third on the party ticket in NSW for the 2019 federal election.
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Senator Molan received 141 votes during Saturday’s contest, placing him well behind former Bill Heffernan employee Hollie Hughes’ 199 votes.
The result will see Senator Molan placed in the fourth spot on the Coalition's NSW ticket at the next election, behind Ms Hughes, Andrew Bragg and the National Party’s Perin Davey.
While Senator Molan declined to comment on the result, he took to social media on Monday to thank his support base.
“Thank you to the thousands of my supporters who have reached out this morning,” he said on Twitter.
“Your kind words are overwhelming.”
Eden-Monaro Labor MP Mike Kelly said the result is “another clear reflection of the hugely divisive and destabilising internal conflict” within the Coalition.
“It has become very obvious that this chaos and dysfunction has paralysed any attempt at good government, particularly in the critical areas of climate change and energy policy,” Dr Kelly said on Monday.
Mr Molan was due to appear on television this week, pulling out of a scheduled appearance on ABC’s Q&A program, saying he “would find it hard to defend” the Liberal Party’s preselection process.
“Let me be clear: in or out of parliament I totally support the Morrison Government, its policies and the Liberal Party,” he said on Twitter.
In the role since December last year, following Fiona Nash’s ineligibility to stand, he was immediately on the defensive over his sharing of anti-Islam videos.
The 68-year-old described his first few weeks in the role as “a baptism of fire”.
The retired Army major general backed Peter Dutton during the first leadership spill in August, saying the party had moved moved “too far to the left” under Malcolm Turnbull.
