Wirrpanda pulls out of Senate race

Former AFL star David Wirrpanda will not stand for the National Party in the re-run of the Senate election in Western Australia.

Mr Wirrpanda, an all-time favourite for West Coast fans after a stellar football career, was the star political recruit for the WA Nationals last September as he stood for a Senate seat.

An indigenous rights leader in his home state, where he has established an eponymous foundation promoting aboriginal health and well-being, Mr Wirrpanda had high hopes of becoming WA's first Aboriginal senator.

But despite polling over five per cent of the vote in the original poll, minor parties including the Australian Sports Party jumped above the Nationals thanks to comprehensive preference deals.

The 43-year-old ex-Eagle has now told the Nationals he does not want to stand in the reprised poll on April 5, ordered by the High Court after the loss of 1370 ballots, citing commitments to his business ventures.

Shane Van Styn, an accountant from Geraldton, and Colin de Grussa, an Esperance farmer and the Nationals WA State president, will stand on April 5.