State MP Vacates Seat for Tilt at Federal Senate With COVID-19 Lockdowns in His Sights

David Limbrick, Victorian Upper House Liberal MP speaking at the “Standing against Daniel Andrews Belt & Road Signing” rally held at the steps of Victoria Parliament on Dec. 15, 2019. (Grace You/Epoch Times)

A former police officer, dance teacher, and state politician will be the latest additions to the Liberal Democrats bid for the Australian Senate.

Current Victorian state MP David Limbrick, along with recently resigned police officer Krystle Mitchell, and ballet schoolteacher, Caroline White, will be running on the Liberal Democrat’s Victorian Senate ticket at the next federal election due before May 2022.

The minor party has been steadily building up its team of candidates over the year, onboarding former Premier Campbell Newman in August to run in the Queensland race and former Liberal Party member John Ruddick to run in New South Wales.

The Liberal Democrats also sealed a preference deal agreement with the United Australia Party earlier this week.

Limbrick, who will vacate his seat in the upper house of the Victorian Parliament, said over the last 20 months, Victorians had “woken up to the idea” that they need to stand up for their rights.

“One of the things that the Liberal Democrats has been able to do is we’ve been the party that’s been able to prove that we always stand up for your rights,” he said in a video posted on Facebook on Nov. 25.

“We haven’t seen strong representation to stand up for rights in our federal Parliament, and so for that reason, I’d like to announce today that my intention, along with my team, to run for the Senate in the next federal election.”

Limbrick has long been a critic of the government’s handling of the pandemic, which has seen the frequent use of hard lockdowns and public health directives to control outbreaks of the virus.

Mitchell, appearing alongside Limbrick in the video, publicly resigned from Victoria Police in October during a live-streamed interview due to concerns with the state government’s enforcement of public health directives and the degrading relationship “between police and the community.”

“Why a career in politics? Well, I’ve been in service to the community, and it’s the best job that I know how to do,” she said.

“I think like a lot of people I’ve waited for our federal leadership to step up, while our states eroding democracy and stripping the citizens of their basic liberties and freedoms, and it just didn’t happen,” she added, noting that it was these experiences that drove her to join the Liberal Democrats.

Meanwhile, White is the director of Two Shoes Dance Academy and has spoken out previously about the damage lockdowns and restrictions were causing her business.

“As a small business owner and as a mother, I have a great deal of empathy for individuals that have experienced the devastation that the repeated lockdowns, the inhumane restrictions and mandates, and now the segregation of not only adults but also children within our society and the impact this everyday harassment is having on our day to day lives,” she said.

The Liberal Democrats will nominate a replacement for Limbrick. Currently, the party holds two seats in the Legislative Council of the Victorian Parliament.