One of Australia’s most high-profile doctors has given the strongest indication yet that he wants to throw his hat into the political ring.
Speculation has been rife that Dr Nick Coatsworth, Australia’s former deputy chief health officer during the Covid-19 crisis, is gearing up to run for a political office.
Almost all Australians will be familiar with Dr Coatsworth due to his near-daily updates during the pandemic and his many media appearances in the years since.
Dr Coatsworth, who is now an Ambassador for Health Reform at the Australian Patients Association and a regular medical commentator on Channel Nine, told the ABC on Tuesday morning he was ‘interested in the conservative side of politics’.
‘I’m particularly interested in, you know, I’ve seen over the past three decades of political interest, the healthiest democracy in Australia is served by a strong Labor Party and a strong Liberal Party, and so I think if there is anything that I can do to achieve the second, then that is on my mind over the next couple of years,’ he added.
The questions around his political ambitions went into overdrive last week when a report in the Australian Financial Review suggested he might be mulling a run for office in Perth where he recently spoke at an invitation-only event for Liberal bigwigs.
But the married father-of-three has lived in Canberra since 2016 and he told the paper he had been in discussions with ACT Liberals about a possible run for the Senate in the capital.
This would pit him against Labor Finance Minister Katy Gallagher and popular independent Senator David Pocock.
Almost all Australians will be familiar with Dr Nick Coatsworth (pictured) due to his near-daily updates during the pandemic and his many media appearances in the years since
Now Dr Coatsworth, who is now an Ambassador for Health Reform at the Australian Patients Association and a regular medical commentator on Channel Nine, is mulling a run for the Senate
Dr Coatsworth kept his cards close to his chest when pressed for more details about his possible political future, telling the Daily Mail his focus for the ‘next year is continuing my role as an advocate for affordable specialist healthcare and as a public hospital doctor in Canberra’.
‘At this stage my interest is helping ensure there is a strong conservative political alternative,’ he added.
Asked what he thought had gone wrong for the Liberal Party, who suffered their worst-ever election defeat in 80 years at the May Federal Election, Dr Coatsworth said he was optimistic a ‘strong, liberal message can get support from Australians’.
‘Voters in the 80s and 90s lived through the 1988 stock market crash and 18 per cent interest rates and were drawn to the Liberal Party under John Howard,’ he said.
‘The pandemic has favoured the Labor party and big government but for the good of the country that pendulum must swing back.
‘It’s always the case that a strong country is made of strong individuals and families.
‘To me this means lower income taxes, effective policies that will help Australians own a home, and a fairer NDIS and Medicare that ensures all Aussies are supported in their healthcare.’
Dr Coatsworth, who led humanitarian teams in the Congo and Darfur region of Sudan for Medicins Sands Frontiers in his mid-20s, has been an outspoken critic of government-mandated lockdowns during the pandemic.
He filled in as a cover host for Karl Stefanovic on Channel 9’s Today program during the Christmas period in 2023.
