Popular former Braddon MHA Adam Brooks could be poised for a political comeback, saying he won't "rule in or out" putting himself forward as a potential Liberal candidate ahead of the next state election.
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First elected to State Parliament in 2010, Mr Brooks proved to be a reliable vote-winner for the Tasmanian Liberals, topping the party's ticket with 16,073 first preference votes at the 2014 election and trailing only Deputy Premier Jeremy Rockliff in 2018 with 10,004 votes.
Mr Brooks, formerly the state's mining minister, resigned from parliament in early 2019, citing health and personal reasons.
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"At the moment, I've still got some things that I'm working through, still got some business things that I'm doing," he said this week. "I'm really enjoying that."
"But also I'm still obviously active within the party. And I've never ruled it in or out [standing for preselection]."
"It's more just I think it'll probably come down to timing and, ultimately, it'll be up to the preselectors of Braddon and also then the people of Braddon if I was preselected."
Mr Brooks, who is the treasurer of the Tasmanian Liberals and sits on the party's state executive, said the decision as to whether or not he would throw his hat in the ring for preselection would "depend on where I'm at".
"Because I know what is required of the wonderful privilege of being an MP and representing Braddon," he said. "It's something I take very seriously."
"If I'm going to do it or if I wanted to try and do it again or wanted to seek it then I know the requirement that it takes. So I obviously would need to look at that closer to the time [of the election]."
Political analyst Kevin Bonham said name recognition was particularly important in Tasmania's Hare-Clark electoral system and that Mr Brooks' high profile would serve the party well in that regard.
The other incumbent Liberal MHAs in Braddon are Human Services Minister Roger Jaensch and first-termer Felix Ellis. Dr Bonham said Mr Ellis would be "facing a very difficult challenge" to secure reelection if both Mr Rockliff and Mr Brooks ran as candidates.
Mr Brooks' departure from politics came after a report from the state's Integrity Commission found he hadn't told then premier Will Hodgman or a crown solicitor undertaking an audit of his business email account that he had deleted emails that "had the potential to cause him political damage".
But the anti-corruption watchdog did not find any evidence to suggest Mr Brooks had misused information or obtained an advantage for his asset management business, Maintenance System Solutions, through his public roles.
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