Former West Australian treasurer and onetime premier-apparent Christian Porter has won his first preselection bout for the federal seat of Pearce.
Liberal Party WA director Ben Morton confirmed to AAP on Sunday that Mr Porter had beaten three other candidates for the safe conservative seat to be vacated by Judi Moylan at the next federal election.
“Christian Porter has been recommended by the Pearce selection committee, and that recommendation will go to our state council when it next meets,” Mr Morton said.
The recommendation is the first step to being formally preselected, but that’s viewed as a formality.
Mr Morton said he was unsure when the next state council meeting would be as it was scheduled for September, but it could be held earlier.
He would not comment on how close the selection committee vote was, as Mr Porter was up against stiff competition in the form of 24-year-old trademark lawyer Alex Butterworth and locals Rod Henderson and Bill Crabtree.
Federal Opposition Leader Tony Abbott last week prematurely welcomed Mr Porter to his team at a Liberal Party fundraiser in Perth.
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