Rochelle Pattison, the chair of Transgender Victoria, has put her hand up to the the Liberal party’s candidate for the federal seat of Kooyong at the next federal election.
Pattison, who is 56, has been a Liberal party member for more than three decades. She is a director of asset management firm Chimaera Capital, and also serves as the chair of the Knox Ranges Liberal Women group, alongside her leadership role as a transgender rights advocate,
The division of Kooyong in Melbourne’s inner-east was previously held by former treasurer Josh Frydenberg. He lost the seat at the 2022 election when voters opted to have independent Dr Monique Ryan as their representative.
The seat was previously held by Liberal party founder, and former Prime Minister Sir Robert Menzies from 1934 until 1966. He was succeeded by Andrew Peacock who went on to have two stints as the Leader of the Opposition in 1980s.
Pattison is just one of a handful of Liberal members vying to be the candidate at the next election, and comes at a time when the Victorian branch is often locked in a battle between moderate members and conservative voices with ties to the religious-right.
Earlier this year state Victorian state MP Moira Deeming was voted out of the parliamentary party after she attended the Let Women Speak rally organised by British anti-transgender campaigner Kelly-Jay Keen. Deeming is now taking legal action against Opposition leader John Pesutto alleging she was defamed in statements he made to the media and party colleagues.
Nominations for pre-selection close in mid January but several high profile candidates have already put their hand up for the role. Among them Amelia Hamer, a former political staffer who comes from a political family, surgeon Jane Morris and barrister Michael Flynn.
If Pattison is successfully in her campaign she will make history as the first transgender woman to stand for the Liberal party.
Pattison spoke about her journey of gender transition at a conference in 2019 sharing the mental anguish she went through before embracing life as a women. In 2020 Deloitte named her as one of the 50 outstanding LGBTI+ leaders in Australia.
Graeme Watson
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