Ben Britton, who was disendorsed as the Liberal candidate for Whitlam following comments he made about women in the armed forces and transgender people, has blamed “factionalism” in a new interview.
Speaking before his pre-selection as candidate for the comfortably Labor-held seat, which represents a swath of the Southern Highlands and South Coast, Britton argued that women are incapable of serving in combat.
“Their hips are being destroyed because they can’t cope with the carrying of the heavy loads and the heavy impacts that is [sic] required for doing combat-related jobs,” Britton said.
“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?”
Britton served as a paratrooper in East Timor.
After the comments resurfaced, a Liberal spokesperson said Britton’s views were “inconsistent” with those of the party.
Opposition leader Peter Dutton said there were several causes for Britton’s dumping. “There were a number of issues, not just those made public in relation to the candidate, and we took a decision to replace the candidate,” Dutton said.
In addition to his comments on women in combat, Britton has made bizarre claims about gender dysphoria and reportedly labelled Liberal senator Andrew Bragg a “piece of globalist shit” whilst praising Vladimir Putin in an online group chat.
Ben Britton responds to resurfaced comments
Speaking to Ben Fordham on 2GB, Britton said he was not opposed to women serving in the Australian Defence Force, but believed that army combat roles should be exclusively filled by men.
“I serve with great women in the ADF. I serve with extraordinary women,” Britton told Fordham.
“My position is the same as Andrew Hastie, the Shadow Minister for Defence and the great Jim Molan, that women should not serve specifically in combat roles, specifically in the army itself.”
Britton blames ‘left faction’ and ‘traitors’ from the right
Britton said that “higher-ups” in the Liberal and Labor parties sought to have him removed as candidate, blaming the “left faction” of the Liberal Party and “traitors” in the party’s right.
“It’s a witch hunt because they didn’t want me there and it’s factions within the party that didn’t want me there,” he claimed.
“It’s because I wouldn’t sign up to a faction. I wouldn’t be controlled. I wouldn’t be told what to say. I would say what I want when I want.”
“Then at the end of the day, what’s occurring within the New South Wales division right now is a systematic plot from the left.”
Britton said that the party’s left faction – also known as moderates, wets or small-l Liberals – were “working hand-in-glove with members of the right faction who are traitors to stab Peter Dutton in the back” to “ensure he doesn’t get elected as the prime minister so they can roll him as leader.”
The dumped candidate declared he was one of Dutton’s “biggest supporters” and had “tried to get him the message.”
Britton also told Fordham that the “faceless men” of the Liberal Party had falsely claimed he faced domestic violence charges, saying “they just kept inventing on the fly” and that he had never been accused of it. He said the same had happened with apparent allegations he had been accused of sexual assault.
Ousted candidate replaced by anti-abortion conservative
The new Liberal candidate for Whitlam is Nathaniel Smith, chief executive of the Master Plumbers Association of NSW and former state member for Wollondilly from 2019 to 2023.
His tenure in the state parliament was mostly unremarkable. However, Smith did vocally oppose the removal of abortion from the Crimes Act under Gladys Berejiklian.
Speaking at an anti-abortion rally in August 2019 prior to the liberalisation, Smith expressed disgust at the bill being “rammed” through parliament.
“This is not an issue like a hip replacement, a nose job, a fake tan – this is a human being,” he told the crowd.
“This will not protect women, this should not be going into the health care act, it should remain in the Crimes Act.”
Whitlam is held by Labor MP Stephen Jones, with about sixty percent of the two-party vote.
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