Latest
- Opinion
- Jacinta Allan
All of a sudden, Allan is running out of time in Victoria
New polling that reveals a record slump in support for Victorian Labor will have Prime Minister Anthony Albanese worried too.
- Patrick Durkin
- Opinion
- Opinion
Three lessons for Liberals to win in Victoria
New state party leader Brad Battin must offer a clear alternative to Labor’s high-tax, high-debt governance.
- Georgina Downer
Former cop Brad Battin to challenge for Victorian Liberal leadership
A spill vote against embattled Opposition Leader John Pesutto is slated for Friday, but a ballot will first decide if absent MPs can vote remotely.
- Hannah Wootton
‘Jacinta’s Christmas present’: Liberal anger as Vic chaos rolls on
The party remains in turmoil after a meeting to reinstate ousted MP Moira Deeming was split 14-all, ensuring the internal row continues into next year.
- Gus McCubbing
‘Darn sensible’ Labor states outcompete Victoria, says top Liberal
Shadow treasurer Brad Rowswell has been in Britain looking at how the state might get in on the AUKUS action, and ruing the salesmanship of rivals NSW and SA.
- Hans van Leeuwen
October 2024
- Exclusive
- Energy
AGL, EnergyAustralia coal power deals with Victoria kept secret
The Victorian Labor government has been slammed for keeping secret the cost of deals to underwrite the state’s two coal-fired power plants.
- Patrick Durkin
- Exclusive
- Energy
The secret plan to bring a floating LNG terminal to Melbourne
The Victorian government is examining a floating liquefied natural gas terminal in the southwest of Port Phillip Bay.
- Patrick Durkin
September 2024
Neo-Nazis boasted of protecting rally Deeming helped plan, court told
Social media posts made by a neo-Nazi leader have been read out to a court during MP Moira Deeming’s defamation trial against Liberal leader John Pesutto.
- Gus McCubbing and Patrick Durkin
‘Grab the popcorn’: Vic Liberal civil war goes prime time
In one sense, ousted Liberal MP Moira Deeming’s defamation case against John Pesutto is about free speech. But it threatens to engulf Peter Dutton’s federal opposition.
- Patrick Durkin
August 2024
- Exclusive
- Venture capital
Auditors warned against Vic government’s $37m space balloon bet
Auditors expressed “substantial doubt” about the financial viability of a space exploration start-up, a year before Breakthrough Victoria placed a huge bet on the US company.
- Patrick Durkin and Gus McCubbing
October 2023
- Opinion
- The AFR View
Virtual Labor-CFMEU partnership shows up on Victoria’s bottom line
Victorians deserve better than to be governed by a ruthless political machine in partnership with a renegade union at great cost to the state’s public finances.
- The AFR View
August 2023
Liberals retain Warrandyte in Victorian byelection
Nicole Werner is on track to secure 60 per cent of the primary vote in the state seat, a result Opposition Leader John Pesutto says is warning to Daniel Andrews.
- Callum Godde, Tara Cosoleto and Rachael Ward
June 2023
- Exclusive
- Political leadership
Business lobby groups captured by Andrews: insider
Former Victorian Property Council head Danni Hunter says groups like the Victorian Chamber of Commerce and Industry are “compromised” by their reliance on grants.
- Patrick Durkin
Andrews’ inner circle urges him to stay on
Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews is being urged to stay on by his inner circle, amid growing speculation he may be preparing to hand over to a successor.
- Patrick Durkin
May 2023
- Exclusive
- Political leadership
Labor Right to challenge Daniel Andrews’ succession plan
Victorian Labor MP Ben Carroll has been canvassing support in case Premier Daniel Andrews makes an early exit, amid a shake-up of the Labor factions.
- Patrick Durkin and Gus McCubbing
April 2023
- Opinion
- Victorian budget
Victoria’s crippled finances are all Daniel Andrews’ fault
Having resisted any appeals from the federal government for moderation in 2020 and 2021, it is a bit rich for the Victorian premier to look to Canberra now for help in fixing his budget black hole.
- Robert Carling
Liberals bank on homeownership to fix ‘broken’ party
Liberal MP Keith Wolahan says boosting home ownership is the pathway back to government, as it is traditionally tied to a conservative vote.
- Gus McCubbing
March 2023
Deeming not kicked out of party, as Pesutto blinks
Liberal MP Moira Deeming has been suspended, but not expelled, from the party after attending an anti-trans rights rally that was gate-crashed by neo-Nazis.
- Gus McCubbing
January 2023
- Opinion
- Letters to the Editor
Letters: Legislate Indigenous Voice, delay vote
Indigenous Voice and referendum; stamp duty bracket creep; Labor’s climate politics; submarines: nuclear or not?; Iran and Afghanistan; Victorian Liberals.
Pesutto may tear down SEC to rebuild Liberals in Victoria
John Pesutto, the new Victorian opposition leader, has hinted he would reverse Labor’s plans to revive the State Electricity Commission.
- Gus McCubbing
December 2022
Pesutto appoints three MPs in their 30s to shadow cabinet
John Pesutto has unveiled his shadow cabinet with younger MPs like Brad Rowswell, Jess Wilson and Sam Groth receiving portfolios at the expense of veterans.
- Updated
- Gus McCubbing
John Pesutto wins Liberal leadership in Victoria by one vote
The new leader promised to head a constructive opposition and hold the Daniel Andrews-led Labor government to account.
- Gus McCubbing
Fix ‘unaffordable, unsustainable’ housing to save Victorian Liberals
Vying for opposition leader, Brad Battin says the Liberal Party must target aspirational voters in Melbourne’s western suburbs.
- Gus McCubbing
- Opinion
- Political leadership
Labor has headaches, but Liberals have the real brand problem
The middle-class base of the Coalition has become more socially progressive and less religious over time, and a change is needed to win over young voters.
- Nick Dyrenfurth
Labor staves off Greens to retain Northcote by just 184 votes
Labor has retained the seat of Northcote after Kat Theophanous defeated Greens candidate Campbell Gome by 184 votes.
- Gus McCubbing