A battle of commercial lawyer heavyweights is set to play out tonight over preselection for the coveted “blue ribbon” Liberal seat of Higgins. The seat is presently represented by former treasurer Peter Costello (who retires at the next election), and is considered one of the party’s safest seats.

a retiring grin

The two battling out are former commercial lawyer Andrew Abercrombie, who was the founding partner in a commercial firm, and former Freehills lawyer Kelly O’Dwyer. The two candidates are split by a whopping 20 years in age, with Kelly o’Dwyer being a comparatively juvenile 32 years of age.

O’Dwyer worked for Costello in his branch after a short stint at the Melbourne office of Freehills. Victory would put her in line to become the first woman in the Liberals’ 65-year history to hold one of the party’s plum Melbourne seats.

As reported by The Age:

Those in O’Dwyer’s corner include Robert Nicholson, chairman of law firm Freehills - where O’Dwyer worked on graduating from Melbourne University - and a member of the electorate’s big-ticket fund-raising group the Higgins 200 Club…”She is a woman of uncommon intellect, skill, energy and integrity, with the capacity to make a long-term contribution in public service,” Nicholson wrote in a glowing reference. She enjoys the imprimatur, too, of stalwarts such as former minister Richard Alston, businessman Peter Bartels, John Howard’s former chief of staff Arthur Sinodinos and company director Patricia Cross.

Good luck to both candidates.

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