'I started by cleaning toilets at Carmen's': Cook hopeful's pitch in preselection

Ben Britton has circulated a glossy eight-page brochure to preselectors, who will choose between five candidates.

Mr Britton's father started the well-known, shire based Britton Maritime (originally Britton Marine), but the political aspirant tells of making his own way in the workforce.

"Leaving School at 18 I began working at the Miranda Hotel - Nightclub "Carmens", he says in the brochure.

"Starting from the bottom, my first tasks were cleaning toilets and rubbish in the venue.

"This did not present a problem for me due to my upbringing - a hard work ethic and getting the job done - chores around the house and family business.

"This was a great job as I got to work with excellent, hard working team of people from our community and meet with so many patrons from our great shire.

"Life evolves and I moved to full-time into the security industry - nightlife venues all around the shire as well as full time with Miranda Westfield Security."

In 2007 Mr Britton joined the Army and served as an Infantry Paratrooper.

Mr Britton said he had lost very good friends to veterans' suicide, and had a first-hand insight.

After leaving the Army, he entered the fitness industry and then moved back to hotel security work in the shire before going into computers, information technology and cyber security.

Mr Britton said, like many young people in the shire, he could not afford to buy a house locally, so had purchased "down near Wollongong".

Mr Britton said he was recruited into the Liberal Party by Danna Vale, the former Hughes MP and Minister for Veterans Affairs.

He says he represented Clive Palmer's United Australia Party in the south coast seat of Cunningham in the 2022 election because the Liberals "did not have a huge presence" in the seat and with "the full support" of the Liberal Party, whom he promised to back if elected.

Mr Britton was the campaign director for the No vote in Cook and Cunningham for the 2023 referendum.

RELATED:

Cook preselection race: One woman and four men