Indigenous leader and former Labor boss to be parachuted in as a Liberal in the NSW electorate held by retiring MP Ann Sudmalis

This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

Indigenous leader Warren Mundine will be parachuted in to contest the marginal seat of Gilmore under a Scott Morrison-endorsed plan being considered by the New South Wales Liberal party executive.

On Tuesday the state executive voted to block the preselection of real-estate agent Grant Schultz, who had been picked by local members to contest the seat held by the retiring MP Ann Sudmalis.

Schultz reacted angrily to the decision and vowed to run in the seat as an independent.

“I can no longer be a member of a party that does not support democracy, or act with integrity,” he said in a press conference on Tuesday afternoon.

The move would complete a lifelong political journey by Mundine from the Labor party, of which he was national president in 2006, to the conservative side of politics, via a stint as the chairman of Tony Abbott’s Indigenous Advisory Council. Mundine has only just applied for Liberal party membership.

Morrison said that Mundine is a “top bloke” who has “got a lot to offer – and he’s already been offering quite a bit”.

“When I have more to say about our candidate in Gilmore, I’ll say it then,” Morrison told reporters in Cooktown.

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A series of executive votes will be held to overcome procedural hurdles, including waiver of the six-month waiting period before a new member can be selected as a candidate.

NSW Liberal president Philip Ruddock told Guardian Australia the party had “elected not to proceed with [Schultz’s] endorsement” because he had “nominated against a sitting member who later withdrew”.

“The party should be able to consider the best candidate to represent voters, their aspirations and concerns in each community,” he said.

When asked about female representation Morrison paid tribute to Sudmalis and said he was “absolutely confident” a woman would replace Kelly O’Dwyer in the seat of Higgins, but declined to endorse a female candidate for the seat of Gilmore.

Mundine has refused to confirm or deny his intention to run for the Liberals, but told Channel Nine news that an announcement would be made “one way or the other within the next 24 hours”.

Gilmore is one of the most marginal seats in the country, won by Sudmalis at the 2016 election by just 1,503 votes, or 0.73%.

Mundine is reportedly favoured by Morrison as the best chance to hold the seat, where he has family and ancestral ties despite living in the eastern suburbs of Sydney.

Mundine attempted to enter federal parliament in 2001, when he was selected third on Labor’s NSW Senate ticket, and 2004, when he contested preselection for the seat of Fowler, but was unsuccessful on both occasions.

He left Labor in 2012 after almost 20 years, saying it was “no longer the party I joined”.

At a press conference in Rockhampton, Bill Shorten noted that Mundine was “unsuccessful in the Labor party” but added “it’s a free country, you can run for whatever party will have you”.

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Shorten noted that in Gilmore the Liberal party had “replaced a woman with a man”, and highlighted Mundine’s support for nuclear power by describing him as “a man who wants to put nuclear reactors into Australia, including Jervis Bay”.

“I just don’t think [the Liberals] get how everyday Australians think.”

The deputy Liberal leader, Josh Frydenberg, said the selection of candidates is a matter for the NSW division and local branches.

“We attract people from all walks of life – people who want to make Australia better, people who believe in the … values of supporting the individual and their enterprise,” he told reporters in Melbourne.