A dumped Liberal candidate has unleashed on the “faceless men” he accused of making up lies against him and also plotting to roll leader Peter Dutton.

Former paratrooper Ben Britton is now running as an independent for the seat of Whitlam on the NSW south coast.

He was reportedly tapped on the shoulder over resurfaced comments from a podcast last July, in which he expressed the view that women should not serve in combat roles.

On Tuesday, Britton told 2GB’s Ben Fordham he was “relieved” to have been disendorsed because he was “free to finally say what I want to say and speak for the people”.

He said he had served with many “tremendous” women, but he claimed many were being forced into the infantry and suffering health and mental problems.

“My position is the same as Andrew Hastie, the shadow minister for defence and the great [former Liberal senator] Jim Molan that women should not serve specifically in combat roles, specifically in the Army itself,” he told Fordham.

Britton accused Liberal Party’s left and right factions of running a “witch hunt” against him, but also plotting against Dutton.

“What’s occurring within the NSW division right now is a systematic plot from the left faction working in tandem with members of the right who are traitors, to stab Peter Dutton in the back, ensure he doesn’t get elected as prime minister so they can roll him as leader,” he said.

Britton, who served with the Third Battalion Royal Australian Regiment, said he was told his values did not align with the Liberal Party’s.

“We’re supposed to be the party of free speech, the party that can openly share ideas, and openly talk about ideas,” he told Fordham.

He claimed Liberal “higher-ups” had raised false accusations against him, including domestic violence, but that he was not given the opportunity to refute the “rumours”. Other claims were also kept from him.

“They keep inventing on the fly, making up things — saying ‘You have domestic violence claims against you’,” he said.

“I have never had a domestic violence claim or been accused of it.”

On Tuesday, Dutton refused to detail other issues raised against Britton.

News Corp reports that sources within the Liberals were concerned about Britton’s propensity to go off-script before the decision was made to dump him.

It was revealed that Britton had previously praised Vladimir Putin during a 2024 group chat on Telegram, while referring to Liberal senator Andrew Bragg as a “piece of globalist shit”.

“Putin was called out as a traitor by the new world order. Bragg is only praised by them. Easy to see who is and is not under the influence of foreign powers,” he reportedly wrote, according to News Corp.

“Either way, Bragg is a piece of globalist shit.”

Fordham said he received information from Liberal party sources that Britton had suggested on a podcast that porn addiction could push young people into becoming transgender.

Protester heckles Albanese

Dutton and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese were both in Sydney on Thursday.

A climate activist gatecrashed Albanese’s announcement on youth mental health, accusing him of failing young Australians.

Albanese was unveiling a $1 billion package, which included a boost in the number of Medicare mental health centres and additional services for young people, when a protester burst into the press conference on Tuesday.

“You say you care about young people and yet since getting elected your government has approved new coal and gas mines,” she yelled.

“You’re condemning young people like me to a life of climate disaster.”

It was the second time Albanese has been heckled on climate and the third time an outsider has gatecrashed his campaign events. Activists from climate action group Rising Tide have also interrupted Dutton on the election trail.

The latest heckler was quickly pushed outside, but her message echoed youth mental health concerns raised earlier.

Developments in recent decades like rising student debt, the surging cost of housing and climate change made the lives and futures of young people “much more challenging and pessimistic”, University of Melbourne psychiatrist Pat McGorry said as he welcomed Labor’s promise.

“Young people are the miners’ canaries of society, they’re showing up with symptoms of a society that’s heading in the wrong direction,” he said.

“We need to identify what those problems are and then turn the direction around.”

Labor’s package allocates $225 million for new or upgraded Medicare mental health centres — “entry point” facilities that allow patients to access free consultations with professionals but are not designed to offer longer-term ongoing care.

An extra $200 million will be available for 58 services run by mental-health organisation Headspace, either to set up new locations or expand existing ones.

The announcement also includes $500 million to set up 20 youth specialist care centres, designed to deal with young people who have mental health conditions such as eating disorders or personality disorders.

“I want every Australian, particularly every young person, to be able to access the mental health care that they need,” Albanese said.

A further $90 million would be spent on helping to train 1200 mental health professionals.

The Royal Australia and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists urged the coalition to match Labor’s workforce investment.

Dutton said Labor was playing catch-up on Coalition policies.

It has pledged to double the number of Medicare-subsidised psychology sessions should it form government at the May 3 poll.

Patients were offered 20 subsidised sessions during the peak of the Covid-19 pandemic as a temporary measure under the former Coalition government. Dutton has called for the sessions to be restored.

“[Clinicians] need more services to deal with complex matters, and that provides them with more income, more revenue and more incentive to practise in this area,” he told ABC news.

-with AAP