Political comeback on the cards for former Liberal treasurer - 'never say never'
Josh Frydenberg hasn't ruled out a future political comeback, while praising Peter Dutton as a 'principled, decent, strong leader' who should be Australia's next Prime Minister.
After an ad-libbed speech rallying Perth's Jewish community against anti-Semitism, the former Morrison Government Treasurer weighed into the Federal election campaign.
Asked when he will launch a political comeback, he didn't rule it out.
'Not in a hurry,' he laughed.
Mr Frydenberg said his priority right now is his young family and 'life is good' but 'never say never' and 'I still see myself as youngish'.
When pressed on whether he still wants to be Prime Minister, he said: 'I don't think ambition is a crime'.
'Bt
During a rapid-fire round of word association with The West Australian's editor-in-chief Chris Dore, Mr Frydenberg described current Treasurer Jim Chalmers as 'determined' but struggled to describe the Teal MP who ousted him in the seat of Kooyong, eventually calling her simply 'teal'.
He didn't hold back when asked to describe Climate 200 founder Simon Holmes a Court, calling the Teal fundraiser 'sad'.
Mr Frydenberg wouldn't tip a winner on May 3, describing the Federal election as 'up in the air' and warned that both major parties are in a world of pain due to slumping primary votes.
He recalled the 2004 election result that saw 89 of 150 seats decided by first preferences, compared to the 2022 election when the primary vote decided only 15 contests.
'Massive change and, for the Coalition, we don't have the feeder parties like the Greens and some of the teals that are making their way to the Labor party voting pile,' Mr Frydenberg said.
'It's going to create a real challenge for us going forward and a challenge for the country, because if we have hung parliaments and minority governments, I think that's inherently challenging and can bring more instability.'
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