Senator quits LNP after preselection loss

Renegade Queensland Senator Gerard Rennick has resigned from the Liberal National Party after he was dumped from preselection in an internal ballot.

Senator Rennick lost his position on the LNP’s senate ticket at the party’s state conference to party treasurer Stuart Fraser in Brisbane last July.

On Sunday, the 53-year-old quit the party to run as an independent in the next federal election, The Australian reported.

He will reportedly seek Australian Electoral Commission approval to establish the Gerard Rennick People First party.

The move comes after a Supreme Court judge rejected a case seeking to force the party to allow an appeal of the preselection process in June.

Senator Rennick had asked the court to find there were “grave irregularities” with the voting process that saw him passed over for the third spot on the senate ticket.

Senator Rennick was first elected to the upper house in 2019 and gained a reputation as a critic of vaccine efficacy during the then-Morrison government's response to Covid-19.

In a Senate speech last week, the senator said he lost preselection because then-Health Minister Greg Hunt didn’t take concerns about vaccine injuries seriously.

“I’m happy to lose my position in this party over that because that’s what representing the Australian people is all about: putting the people first.

“Listen out for that phrase in the future: putting the people first. I make no apologies for doing that.”

Senator Rennick is the fourth Coalition MP or Senator to defect to the crossbench since 2022.

He has been contacted for comment.