Veteran MP Russell Broadbent quits Liberal party to sit on crossbench

Member for Monash will remain in parliament as independent after losing Liberal pre-selection for next election

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The veteran federal MP Russell Broadbent is quitting the Liberal party and will sit on the crossbench as an independent after he lost preselection to recontest his Victorian seat of Monash.

Broadbent announced the decision in the party room on Tuesday, citing the margin of his defeat in his preselection (161 to 16) to Mary Aldred, a government relations executive at Fujitsu who will contest the seat for the Liberals at the next election.

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