Melissa Price: Durack member endorsed to run again for the Liberal party in the next federal election

Melissa Price says business prosperity in the face of the pandemic, renewable energy and cyclone Seroja recovery are on the top of her priorities list after being confirmed as the electorate’s Liberal candidate at the next Federal election.

The Geraldton-based current member for Durack won pre-selection for her party in a landslide victory over the weekend, one day after being named the new Science and Technology Minister in addition to her Defence Industry portfolio.

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She was challenged by City of Busselton councillor Jo Barrett-Lennard but won by a staggering 47 votes to three on Saturday afternoon at the count in Perth.

Liberal party members from branches across Durack convened in the capital city to cast their votes for who would be their candidate in the next Australian Federal election, which is expected to be called for next year.

Mrs Price said she was grateful to be re-endorsed as the Member for Durack and looked forward to serving her constituents long into the future.

“While COVID has provided some real benefits for businesses and communities through an increase in domestic tourism ... for those that have suffered more than they have benefited from the COVID interruption, I intend to continue to support those people to secure a strong and certain future in their Durack region.

I look forward to ensuring visa changes can be utilised to solve the employment issues — particularly in the hospitality, tourism and agriculture sectors across Durack — once the nation has reopened.

“I continue to focus on the recovery of the Mid West communities impacted so severely by April’s cyclone Seroja and that focus will continue well past the next election.”

She said she was honoured to have been given the added portfolio responsibility of Science and Technology by the Prime Minister, with there being a “strong connection” between the area and her Defence Industry responsibilities.

A WA Liberal Party spokesperson said: “The next step in this grassroots democratic process is for the preselector’s recommendation to be submitted to State Council for formal endorsement this coming Saturday.”

Durack is Australia’s biggest electorate by land area and the third most with a single member in the world, spanning the coastal regions of WA from the Kimberley through to parts of the Wheatbelt, with the boundary recently changed to include five new Wheatbelt shires, while transferring 15 to the inland division of O’Connor, and three localities north of Perth.