Former Liberal MP-turned-independent, Russell Broadbent, says he does not regret breaking away from the Liberal Party, despite not retaining his seat of Monash, which covers eastern Victoria.
New Liberal Party candidate Mary Aldred looks set to have secured the Lower House seat by the weekend, picking up 28,138 votes to the next-nearest Labor Party candidate Tully Fletcher, who had 17,809 votes.
Broadbent managed to secure 10.1 percent of the vote in his first outing as an independent.
The former draper and former small business owner held the seat for 25 years before he left the Liberals in November 2023.
At the time, he said the federal government’s COVID-19 vaccination mandates during the pandemic years made him break away and run a solo campaign.
Speaking to The Epoch Times at his post-election gathering of supporters in Drouin, Broadbent said he held no reservations about his decision.
“The whole response to COVID over the past four years, as other people have responded in a different way, in regards to my position on COVID,” he said, when asked what policies resonated with voters.
“And I wouldn’t take back a word. I actually challenged the narrative. ... They [Liberal Party] had probably had enough of me. They didn’t like the position that I took on COVID.”
Liberal Party Should Have Fought Against Net Zero
Broadbent warned the net zero energy policy, which has been adopted by both the victorious Albanese Labor government and the Liberal Party, would “break the country.”Former Prime Minister Scott Morrison with then-Energy Minister Angus Taylor committed to reaching net zero by 2050.
The Albanese government has bankrolled a swathe of net zero projects during its first term, and will continue this initiative.
Broadbent has been a vocal critic of bipartisan support for this policy, believing that the gradual shutting down of coal-production sites will cause irreparable economic harm.
“The government hasn’t prepared our economy. Labor has made decisions in subsequent budgets now which make it harder for the economy to function with international headwinds,” he said.
He said the Liberal Party missed an opportunity to create a point of difference in opposing Labor on this policy.
“They [Liberal Party] didn’t differentiate themselves by saying they did not support net zero,” Broadbent said.
Many residents who have spoken to Broadbent say they struggle with higher energy bills, which he blames the energy transition for creating.
Net zero has seen state and federal governments pressure major energy producers to close down coal-fired power stations and to instead, invest in renewable energy projects as a source of “cleaner” energy.
However, this transition does come at a cost to home owners, not only is it limiting energy supply (which drives up prices), there is a significant upfront investment in getting renewable projects off the ground, which has led to governments offering taxpayer-backed subsidies to make this happen.
“There are a number of people, not just here but around the place. They just talk electricity prices, electricity prices, electricity prices,” Broadbent said.
“And the more renewables there are, the more the prices will keep going up.”
