The Sydney Morning Herald reports:
"A factional war is brewing in NSW over the Senate vacancy created by the death of Jim Molan, with moderate former Liberal MPs Andrew Constance and Fiona Scott preparing to run against conservative frontrunner Dallas McInerney. Former Liberal MPs Dave Sharma, Fiona Martin and Lucy Wicks and ex-political staffers Gisele Kapterian and Mary-Lou Jarvis have also been discussed for the casual vacancy".
Having lost against Fiona Phillips in the May 2022 federal election for the Seat of Gilmore the vacant senate seat is yet another political opportunity to enter the federal arena.
The death of Jim Molan created a spare senate seat for a NSW candidate until the term ends in 2028.
Ultimately, the decision will be made by the NSW division of the Liberal Party. Will the dominant conservative faction back their own kind?
It appears from the outside that Constance will have a solid challenge against Fiona Scott.
By her own account:
Fiona is one of Australia’s leading government relations practitioners.
She specialises in political strategy and understanding all aspects of Canberra including legislative requirements, the personalities, and the inner workings of ‘the Hill’. Fiona also provides political commentary to the Australian News Channel - Sky News Australia with regular weekly segments on both "Paul Murray Live" and “News Day".
Prior to joining Premier National, she was the former member of parliament representing the marginal Western Sydney electorate of Lindsay. While representing the Lindsay electorate, she was instrumental in negotiating the future deployment of the Western Sydney International Airport at Badgerys Creek, the North South Rail Link and the Western Sydney City Deal, and the types of jobs it would bring to the region.
While on ‘the Hill’, she was a member of the federal parliamentary committees including Economics, Public Works, Indigenous Affairs and Human Rights. She previously held strategic marketing roles in Westfield, GPT, Auto One, Yates (a division of Orica) and Wattyl Paints.
Fiona holds government, private sector and charity board positions, an MBA from the Australian Graduate School of Management at the University of NSW (AGSM – UNSW) and a Bachelor of Business and Marketing from the University of Western Sydney (UWS).
She also has accreditation from the International Association for Public Participation (IAP2) to specialise in the delivery of stakeholder engagement.
