1 week Ago By Olivia Ireland, Matthew Knott
Follow our live coverage of the 2025 federal election here . A Liberal candidate dumped by the party has forced Peter Dutton to declare his support for women serving in combat roles after the political aspirant claimed Coalition defence spokesman Andrew Hastie shared his view that fighting units should be male only. Benjamin Britton, who was dumped as the Liberal candidate for the NSW south coast seat of Whitlam on Sunday after disparaging women’s presence in the defence force, claimed on Tuesday that he was the victim of a “witch-hunt” from moderate factional forces within the party and reiterated his claims about the army.
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton with the former Liberal candidate for Whitlam, Benjamin Britton, in January. Credit: Facebook “My position is the same as Andrew Hastie, the shadow minister for defence and the great [former Liberal senator] Jim Molan that women should not serve specifically in combat roles, specifically in the army itself,” Britton, who is a veteran, told Ben Fordham on 2GB. In 2018, Hastie , who is also a former elite soldier, said on Sky News that: “my personal view is that the fighting DNA of a close combat unit is best preserved when it is exclusively male.
“Now that’s not a popular view, we’ve changed it five years ago , but you’ve asked for my personal view [and] there it is,” he said at the time. Dutton suggested that Britton was ousted for issues beyond his views on women in combat. “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,” he said at a press conference on Tuesday.
News Corp reported an online account that appeared linked to Britton had called a moderate Liberal senator, Andrew Bragg, as a “piece of globalist shit” last year. The opposition leader said he supported women serving throughout Australia’s defence forces. “I think you saw my record as defence minister in relation to women serving in any role they wanted to serve in the Australian Defence Force and that would be the position under any government I lead,” Dutton said.
“Andrew Hastie’s view is the same as mine.” In a statement, a Liberal spokesman acknowledged Hastie had previously shared the view women should not be in combat roles. “Mr Hastie’s comments about combat roles in the Australian Defence Force were made more than seven years ago based on his own experience serving in the Special Air Service Regiment (SASR),” the spokesperson said.
“There is no intent to change personnel policy in the Australian Defence Force regarding combat roles. “The Coalition, however, will insist on the highest physical and mental standards for those who serve in our combat units, as must have the best fighting capability to defend our nation.“ More to come.
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