Environmental lawyer and corporate climate change advisor Jacqui Scruby announced on Thursday morning she will contest the NSW by-election for the seat of Pittwater.
The by-election was triggered by first-term Liberal MP Rory Amon's resignation after police charged him with sexually assaulting a teenage boy.
Amon has publicly denied the allegations.
Ms Scruby nearly pinched Pittwater, a formerly blue-ribbon seat covering a swathe of Sydney's well-heeled northern beaches, at the 2023 state election, achieving a 22 per cent swing and falling just 606 votes short of winning.
"The majority of people actually did vote for change, so there's definitely an appetite, even before recent events, for politics done differently," Ms Scruby told ABC radio.
"This is a great opportunity, but that said it is difficult with optional preferential voting and I am up against a party machine.
"I'm sure they're going to fight for the seat, so I'm not taking anything for granted."
The Liberals will pre-select a candidate on Wednesday, with their nominations expected to include outgoing Northern Beaches Council deputy mayor Georgia Ryburn.
She was a victim of the Liberal Party's calamitous failure to nominate candidates for a stack of councils at upcoming local government elections.
Ms Scruby nominated cost of living as the number-one issue facing Pittwater voters and suggested her experience as a small business owner helped her understand the challenges being faced.
She was asked if she would accept support from teal-focused fundraising giant Climate 200 but said she hadn't yet determined her financing.
Amon was on Friday charged with 10 offences, including five counts of sexual intercourse with a person over 10 and under 14.
State Liberals moved swiftly after news of the charges became public, with Opposition Leader Mark Speakman demanding Amon's resignation from the party and parliament.
The Pittwater by-election will take place on October 19, the same date as votes for two other formerly Liberal-held seats.
The party has already nominated candidates for Epping and Hornsby, vacated by the resignations of ex-premier Dominic Perrottet and ex-treasurer Matt Kean.
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