![Bass MP Bridget Archer has gained enemies in her own party. Photo by Rod Thompson. Bass MP Bridget Archer has gained enemies in her own party. Photo by Rod Thompson.](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/177158793/cf1db7dc-c908-4e18-804d-ff1ca573d769.jpg/r0_466_4993_3273_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
Certain forces in the Liberal Party are seeking to dump Bass MP Bridget Archer as the party's candidate in the electorate at the next federal election, according to former Liberal Party power-broker Brad Stansfield.
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Speaking during a podcast aired in February, Mr Stansfield, who worked as a chief of staff for former Premier Will Hodgman, said Ms Archer's tendency to break the party line had "given ammo" to some of her opponents.
"I understand certain forces in the party are seeking to replace Ms Archer - the most electorally successful Liberal member for Bass since Warwick Smith 25 years ago," he said.
Ms Archer has crossed the floor several times since her election in 2019, including to support the new Labor government in its censure of former prime minister Scott Morrison.
Labor's latest finance proposal, which would double taxation on superannuation accounts over $3 million, could be the latest issue that sees her diverge from the party line.
"I haven't made a decision, obviously I haven't seen the legislation, but what I have said is that we should be prepared to discuss these things, the default position shouldn't be, 'your side said that, so I'm going to say no'," she said of the superannuation proposal.
She added that her decisions should be based on what is best for her constituency.
Based on data from the Australian Taxation Office, the average super account in the Launceston area contains $159,000, compared to nearly $700,000 for some Sydney eastern suburbs such as Point Piper.
Ms Archer said crossing the floor was a feature of the Liberal Party that distinguished it from Labor.
"This issue of crossing the floor is sometimes represented as being disloyal or disunified, but it's actually not and it never was intended to be," she said.
"Politics ought to be a contest of ideas, not a contest of ideologies, and I think it's increasingly become these divisive, polarizing contests that are about the parties or the political actors, and not about the people that they're elected to represent."
Ms Archer was first elected in Bass in 2019 by less than 700 votes, but in last year's poll, she was one of the few Liberals to win with an increased margin.
One senior Liberal Party member from Northern Tasmania, who agreed that Ms Archer was too successful to be dumped, nevertheless said she has crossed the floor too many times.
"She has done it what four times? You can do that in the Liberal Party, it's not like Labor where they expel you if you do it. But there needs to be a limit on how many times you can do it."
But the member thought there was very little chance of Ms Archer being dumped, as the push was coming from a small number of individuals in Bass.
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