Eden-Monaro MP Mike Kelly has announced he will be stepping away from Parliament due to ongoing health issues, opening the electorate up to what could be a hotly contested by-election.
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"This has been an intensely difficult, gut-wrenching decision. I contested the last federal election in good faith with the intention of serving the full term of this parliament and beyond," Dr Kelly said on Thursday.
"This community and region mean everything to me and I was not prepared to work on at a reduced capacity, given all the challenges ahead of us."
I think that people who know nothing else but student politics think it's just a game.
- Retired Eden-Monaro MP Mike Kelly
Sixty-year-old Dr Kelly resigned on Thursday after days of speculation he was assessing his future. It followed a series of surgeries after collapsing in "exquisite agony" in October last year from kidney and gall bladder failure, caused by severe dehydration during his time in the military.
Dr Kelly also said he is suffering from a deteriorating osteoarthritis condition, and that his wife Shelly is also in need of his care with health issues of her own.
No government has won a seat from an opposition party at a by-election in more than a century, and Dr Kelly said no party can "take Eden-Monaro for granted".
"Underpinning all this is that I feel strongly I am doing the right thing," he said.
"I thought if I fall on my sword now, Eden-Monaro can help benefit the nation. This [by-election] will be the only show in town, and we will be front and centre which will only be a good thing.
"We've been forgotten since the bushfires, and people tend to move on. COVID-19 has compounded this. There's no area in Australia that has suffered more than Eden-Monaro recently.
"I don't know who the party is going to settle on [as a candidate], but it will all be about the contest of ideas now."
The former military colonel won the seat during last year's federal election by just 1.7 per cent of the vote following a two per cent swing to Liberal candidate Fiona Kotvojs who has confirmed she will contest for preselection ahead of the by-election.
Reports on Thursday speculated Labor leader Anthony Albanese has endorsed Bega Valley mayor Kristy McBain to contest any upcoming by-election, however Cr McBain said she would not comment on the rumour.
One local Labor Party branch member said it is understood Cr McBain has already met with high level party members, adding they are "surprised" her name has been thrown into the mix.
Online bookmaker Sportsbet has Deputy Premier and Nationals MP John Barilaro as favoured Coalition candidate for the future by-election, ahead of Bega MP Andrew Constance who is reportedly not ruling out a shift to federal politics.
Nationals leader Michael McCormack said the party will be putting forward "a very strong local candidate", and said he would support Mr Barilaro if he puts his hand up to run.
The Monaro MP has said he will not contest the next state election and said he would discuss a shift to federal politics with his family over coming days.
Dr Kelly said on Thursday it is likely the government will announce the by-election for a date in coming months after the relaxing of strict COVID-19 social distancing measures.
Current lower house speaker and Liberal MP Tony Smith said he is considering possible dates for the by-election after receiving Dr Kelly's resignation letter.
The Australian Electoral Commission will now provide Mr Smith with possible dates to consider, which Mr Smith's office said will have "additional logistical and public health challenges presented by the coronavirus".
Dr Kelly, who said he hasn't had a holiday in 13 years, said he will continue to lobby for the electorate's communities, adding his time in the political arena was possibly "the worst time in our history", with a revolving door of prime ministers and "coups".
He said he will remain actively involved and "more hands on" in the areas of climate change, national security, suicide prevention and exposing potentially violent far-right groups.
"I want to reassure the region that Eden-Monaro is close to my heart and it's in my blood," he said.
"I want to be more hands on now. I've got options, so I'll experiment with them."
While he is disappointed to have never been handed the defence portfolio, Dr Kelly said "bad. timing" and last year's Labor election loss prevented him from putting forward his ideas for the nation.
"I really had so much I wanted to do. The big trick is to never look back," he said.
"I never look in the rear vision mirror. It's all about not wasting a second.
"I have survived, unlike many of my friends, so it's up to me to do them right."
He said while he thought he could work through the ongoing pain of his osteoarthritis, further surgeries would make travel across the sizable electorate difficult.
"If I'd been a member of a smaller seat, like Wentworth which I've jogged across in the City to Surf, I probably could go on," he said.
"Each year you just cannot leave Eden-Monaro because you know there will be some kind of natural disaster, be it a bushfire or a flood."
He said he has witnessed some "low levels of politics" since his 2007 election, and hopes the by-election will focus on policies most relevant to the bushfire ravaged electorate.
"I'm not captured by ideology. Keeping an open mind is important," he said.
"Through the Army I have a wider perspective on life, not being involved in just politics.
"I think that people who know nothing else but student politics think it's just a game."
