Frydenberg set to announce decision not to run in Kooyong at the next election

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Former treasurer Josh Frydenberg is expected to shortly announce he will not recontest the next election, as he is revealed as the new chairman of investment bank Goldman Sachs’ local division.

Sources who could not speak publicly ahead of official confirmation said they expected Frydenberg would later today make an announcement about his decision to avoid another battle against independent MP Monique Ryan, who took the seat of Kooyong from him in the May 2022 federal election.

Teal independent Monique Ryan toppled Josh Frydenberg in Kooyong in May 2022. Credit: Nine

Goldman Sachs leader Kevin Sneader and Simon Rothery announced in an internal staff memo that Frydenberg would become the prestigious firm’s chair

“Josh will focus on further deepening and strengthening client coverage across the A/NZ region. He will continue to offer advice on economic and geopolitical issues as the firm’s senior regional advisor for Asia Pacific,” the memo said.

“Josh has had a distinguished political career in Australia. Most recently, he served as federal treasurer, where he was widely recognised for his management and leadership of the country’s economy during the pandemic.”

This masthead reported on August 19 that Frydenberg had told friends he was unlikely to stand again despite the urging of many local Liberals he should have another tilt.

The report stated: “One Liberal familiar with Frydenberg’s thinking said he was torn between his ambition to lead the Liberal Party, enjoying working in the private sector and spending more time with his young children, and the fear of losing the seat a second time, in what was proving to be an anguishing decision for the 52-year-old.”

The Oxford-educated grand-niece of former Victorian premier Sir Rupert “Dick” Hamer is weighing a bid to be the Liberal candidate for Kooyong, as former treasurer Josh Frydenberg mulls a tricky call to win back the seat he once held.

Several senior Liberal sources – who, like others in this story, spoke on the condition of anonymity to detail tightly held plans – said Amelia Hamer, 30, had held discussions with local party members about a potential run.

Monique Ryan is currently in New York as part of a cross-party delegation meeting with members of Congress and officials from the State and Justice departments to call for Assange, an Australian citizen being held in London’s Belmarsh prison, to be sent home by Christmas.

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