A spokesman for the senior Turnbull said the former prime minister was "staying out of the political fray". Illustration: Matt Golding Credit: The junior Turnbull has previously said he would bankroll independent political campaigns, particularly those prioritising climate change, as Ms Banks has pledged. He did not answer questions about any financial involvement in her campaign. Ms Banks - who won the seat of Chisholm as a Liberal but quit the party after the coup - announced on Thursday she would contest Mr Hunt's seat of Flinders as an independent. She said she had "unfinished business" in politics, and that voters in Flinders were angry at Mr Hunt for his role in the leadership spill, accusing him of being "Peter Dutton's wingman".

Scores of Victorian Liberals complained Ms Banks was out for "revenge" and said she did not stand a chance of ousting Mr Hunt from the seat, which he holds on a margin of 7.8 per cent. Liberal senator Jane Hume, who advised Ms Banks prior to her election, slammed her former friend as a "seat shopper" and outsider who would be crucified at the polls in May. "The real problem is the people of Chisholm voted Liberal and they’ve been betrayed by the person they voted for. They’re very angry and they have a right to be so," Senator Hume said. "She has betrayed us all": Liberal senator Jane Hume (left) unloaded on her former friend Julia Banks (right). Credit:Alex Ellinghausen "I doubt the outgoing member for Chisholm will find a welcoming reception in Flinders because voters rarely have sympathy for a seat-shopper."

Loading Asked about Ms Banks' complaints of bullying, Senator Hume said: "I - like the Liberal Party, like the voters of Chisholm - invested a lot in Julia. And she has betrayed all of us." Other Victorian Liberals played down Ms Banks' hopes of making any inroads against Mr Hunt in the seat he has held for 18 years, and suggested she was running to receive money back from the Australian Electoral Commission. "Liberal supporters are furious with Banks. [She's] not getting the soft sympathy thing," one Liberal MP said. "She's not gonna get elected, they'll just be paying for her next holiday." Another said: "She just looks like a disgruntled ex-Liberal wrecker, which is very different to someone running as a fresh independent ... this just doesn't pass the pub test."

One Liberal MP predicted Ms Banks would not beat Mr Hunt but would "make it harder for Greg to win". "He can cop a bit of a swing [against him] but not a big one," the MP said. Mr Hunt was reluctant to discuss Ms Banks by name on Thursday, but emphasised his long-term work in the electorate. By contrast, Ms Banks' declaration of interests shows she lives in Malvern (in the federal seat of Higgins) and maintains a holiday home on the Mornington Peninsula, which is in Flinders. "I would never walk away from the area that I grew up in": Health Minister Greg Hunt on Thursday. Credit:John Veage "This is a sacred relationship that you develop with an electorate," Mr Hunt said. "I would never walk away from the area that I grew up in to try to represent another area. I’ll let other people explain what they’re doing."

Loading Mr Hunt said he stood by his actions in last year's leadership spill - in which he supported Mr Dutton - but said Scott Morrison could be "the most extraordinary leader" of any Australian political party since John Howard. Mr Morrison said Mr Hunt had "worked like a Trojan for his community from the day he was elected" and voters would reward him for that commitment. Meanwhile, in a pre-election membership drive, Mr Morrison has sent an email letter to former Liberal Party members in his home state of NSW imploring them to rejoin the party. Several members recently resigned after Mr Morrison's intervention to overturn the local preselection in the south coast seat of Gilmore and install former ALP national president Warren Mundine as the Liberal candidate.