The move sets up a showdown for preselection in the blue-ribbon seat.
Luerssen Australia executive Matt Moran has formally announced his candidacy for Liberal preselection for the federal seat of Curtin.
Mr Moran, a former journalist, was once a media adviser to then-prime minister Malcolm Turnbull and will now battle Uber boss Tom White for the right to take on teal independent Kate Chaney at the 2025 federal election.
Late last year, Business News revealed that Mr Moran was mulling a tilt at the state seat of Churchlands, believed to be favoured by Perth Lord <ayor Basil Zempilas. It is also understood that the federal seat of Moore, currently held by long-serving Liberal Ian Goodenough, was under consideration.
But in a letter delivered to the Curtin branch president of the Liberal Party, and obtained by Business News, Mr Moran has formally announced his nomination for preselection in what was once Julie Bishop's federal seat.
Mr White did likewise late last week, setting up a battle between two young party members whose nominations will be welcomed by an organisation that has for years been criticised for struggling to attract younger members and candidates.
Mr White is 36, while Mr Moran is in his early 40s.
Mr Moran was the inaugural executive director of Defence West for two years from 2019 after a stint at the Minister for Defence Industry's office as a senior policy adviser. He has been the head of strategy and government relations at Luerssen Australia for the past two years and is also a board member of RSL WA.
He has been a long-serving Curtin Division party member and branch vice-president.
"We can and must win Curtin back and I will work tirelessly to achieve this," Mr Moran said in his letter to the branch president.
Mr Moran said he was planning a well-financed campaign to win back the seat for the Liberal Party after Ms Chaney claimed it at the last election as part of the teal wave that swept across the country.
