The Liberal party has disendorsed their candidate for the NSW seat of Whitlam after comments he’d made on a right-wing podcast came to light.
Benjamin Britton has been dropped over comments he made about women’s suitability to service in combat roles in the defence forces, his view that pornography had led to an increase in transgender desires, and is a trigger for gender dysphoria, and claims the education system was brainwashing people with Marxist ideology.
In a statement the Liberal party said they’d they’d picked someone else to be the candidate.
A spokesperson said Britton had been replaced “over views expressed which were not previously disclosed and are inconsistent with the party’s position”.
Britton has been replaced by Nathaniel Smith, the Chief Executive of the Master Plumbers Association of NSW. He was elected as the Liberal MP for the state seat of Wollondilly in 2019, serving up until 2023.
Britton made the controversial comments in 2024 when appearing on a podcast hosted by right-wing commentator Joel Jammal.
On the podcast Britton said he’d worked with some amazing women during his time in the armed forces, but argued that they should not be allowed to serve in combat roles.
“Basically, long story short, if we’re to fix our defence force, unfortunately, they’re going to need to remove females from combat corps,” Britton said.
“Their hips are being destroyed because they can’t cope with the carrying of the heavy loads and the heavy impacts that’s required from doing combat-related jobs.
“I knew some of the toughest men I’ve ever met in my life, absolute nails. War left them a shaking mess. Drug addicted. Can’t go outside the house because they have panic attacks … If war can do that to them and destroy them, why would you want to send your beautiful women? Your females – the ones that are the backbone of your society. Your society only exists because of women … Why would you want to sacrifice them in war, on the altar?”
Before joining the Liberal party, Britton stood as a candidate for Clive Palmer’s United Australia Party at the 2022 federal election.
Speaking Melbourne this morning Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the selection of Britton as a candidate was a sign that the Liberal party had been taken over by the right wing.
“I think the women of Australia will be asking themselves ‘What is going on?’ when Peter Dutton can endorse a bloke that has the views that he put forward over a long period of time, who is a former candidate of the UAP, this is a part over the take over of the Liberal party by the hard-right.”
The PM said the selection of Senator Alex Antic to hold the party’s top on spot on their South Australian senate ticket over Shadow Health Minister Anne Rushton was another example of the party’s move to the right.
