The Liberal Party is searching for another woman to replace Industrial Relations Minister Kelly O'Dwyer in her blue-ribbon Melbourne seat.
Ms O'Dwyer has announced she will quit politics at the next election to spend more time with her family and try for a third child.
Her shock resignation is a major blow to the Liberal Party as it struggles with low levels of female representation in federal parliament.
Ms O'Dwyer, who is also the minister for women, is one of the most senior women in the coalition government.
Both Ms O'Dwyer and Prime Minister Scott Morrison said they wanted a woman to be preselected for her job.
"This seat will be represented incredibly well by one of the very talented people who come forward and I have no doubt that it will be a woman," Ms O'Dwyer said on Saturday.
A handful of women have emerged as potential candidates for the Liberals in the inner-eastern electorate of Higgins, including Victorian Senator Jane Hume, who is keen to switch to the lower house.
"I am seriously considering it," Senator Hume told The New Daily.
"To Kelly's credit she's always treated it like a marginal seat. I am going to make a decision based on what's best for the Liberal Party and what's best for winning the next election."
If Ms O'Dwyer's successor fails to win at the next federal poll, the Liberals could be left without any Victorian women in the House of Representatives.
A former lawyer, Ms O'Dwyer holds Higgins by eight per cent.
Her resignation comes on the back of a battering for the Liberals in the Victorian state election, including in the party's heartland.
The next federal election is expected for May this year.
Share
