Labor MP Mike Kelly retires from politics for health reasons sparking a by-election

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Labor MP Mike Kelly retires from politics for health reasons sparking a by-election  

Federal Labor MP Mike Kelly is retiring from politics due to health issues, prompting a by-election in his ultra-marginal seat of of Eden-Monaro in southern New South Wales.

The former army colonel, 60, has been battling kidney failure which required emergency surgery in October and a further nine procedures.

He attributes his health struggles to severe dehydration suffered during military tours as a lawyer in Iraq, Somalia and East Timor. 

The former army colonel, 60, has been battling kidney failure which saw him rushed to hospital for emergency surgery in October 

Dr Kelly said the decision to stand down was ‘gut-wrenching’. 

‘I don’t believe I can continue to do the job to the extent – and with the commitment and the physical demand – that I would want to,’ he told the ABC on Thursday.

‘It breaks my heart to do this but it is necessary’. 

The by-election is expected to be a three-cornered contest, meaning the Liberals and the Nationals both put candidates up against Labor and preference each other.

Labor holds the seat by a 0.9 per cent margin so the Coalition will be hoping to snatch it as the Prime Minister’s poll ratings soar on the back of Australia’s success at handling COVID-19. 

However, Eden-Monaro includes the bushfire-hit town of Cobargo, whose residents gave Mr Morrison a hostile reception in January.

History doesn’t favour the Coalition because a federal government has not won a seat from the opposition in a by-election since 1920. 

Bega mayor Kristy McBain is likely to run for Labor while NSW Deputy Premier John Barilaro is favourite for the Nationals.

NSW Transport Minister Andrew Constance and Liberal senator Jim Molan have been touted as possible Liberal Party candidates.

Jim Molan (pictured with his daughter Erin) is a possible Liberal Party candidate for the seat

However, Mr Barilaro has said a three-cornered contest isn’t in the Coalition’s best interests.

Mr Barilaro says he wouldn’t run against Mr Constance, and will speak with his family over the weekend about having a tilt at federal politics.

‘I can’t rule it out, don’t rule it in,’ he told Sky News.

‘Everybody’s got to be honest with themselves and it will be something that I’ll weigh up over the next few days.’

Mr Barilaro’s state electorate covers the Queanbeyan area, where the majority of the Eden-Monaro population resides.

‘If I do this, I do this knowing I could be out of politics,’ he said.

Liberal senator Jim Molan says he’s considering all options.

From 1972 to 2016 Eden-Monaro was considered a bellwether seat – going to the party that wins government.

Mr Kelly, first elected in 2007 only to lose in 2013, ended the bellwether status when he won the seat in 2016 in an election that Labor didn’t win. 

In the 2019 election, Labor won 39.2 per cent of first prefence votes and the Liberals won 37 per cent with the Greens on 8.8 per cent and the Nationals on 7 per cent. 

Labor frontbencher Tanya Plibersek has praised her long-serving colleague.

‘He is a fantastic human being,’ she told the ABC.

‘He’s served Australia in many, many theatres of war, on the frontline overseas, extraordinarily brave, intelligent, compassionate man, who has contributed not just through his military career but made an extraordinary contribution in our federal parliament.’

Source: Daily Mail australia

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