By Stephen Brook and Kishor Napier-Raman
“In my time in the party, I have never seen as much sadness amongst members as I have these last 24 hours.”
Now that’s a big call, particularly as it comes from our friends of the Victorian Liberal Party. Yet members are so outraged by what has happened that they have even invoked Julia Gillard’s knifing of Kevin Rudd.
Katie Allen couldn’t be any more back. Credit: Jason South
What could possibly top the Jarndyce v Jarndyce vibes being served up by the Moira Deeming v John Pesutto court case due to start its hearing on Monday?
Turns out the Libs have found an entirely new way to tear themselves apart, after Katie Allen, who lost her federal seat of Higgins to Labor at the last election, was granted preselection of the neighbouring seat of Chisholm by the state administrative committee, trouncing previously endorsed candidate Theo Zographos, after Higgins was abolished in a redrawing of electoral boundaries.
“There is some blowback from the party from the process,” said one party member with considerable understatement.
In fact Mei Li, secretary of the Chisholm local party organisation, and author of the above sadness quote, went further, writing that many members were “angry and disgusted at the blatant disregard of membership rights”.
Fingers are pointing at the role of Victorian Liberal president Philip Davis, but the process was entirely within the party’s constitution after a redistribution. Zographos thought he had the numbers going into the Sunday meeting, but lost 6 to 13.
“It is a very similar issue to the day when we woke up and Kevin Rudd had been knifed,” one party member said, noting widespread confusion and universal anger.
“How can he be the candidate on Sunday morning and someone else on Sunday night?”
Allen and Zographos declined to comment. State director Stuart Smith did not return calls.
Another party member left us with a final thought: “Things are going to get worse for the party if that was even possible.”
You might think that, we couldn’t possibly comment.
KEEPING UP WITH THE SHEEP
Few things excite the Coalition in opposition better than a folksy rally on the lawns of Parliament House, an opportunity for agricultural cosplay as grumpy battlers grumble about the injustices of life under a Labor government.
So when about 1000 cranky farmers showed up at a rally kicked off by CBD’s new favourite “grassroots” organisation Keep the Sheep to vent about the Albanese government’s live sheep export ban and its general treatment of the agriculture sector, Peter Dutton and co couldn’t be kept away. In fact the entire joint party room trooped down for the event.
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton at the farmer rally out the front of Parliament House in Canberra on Tuesday.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen
The opposition leader spoke decked in a Keep the Sheep scarf, had a crack at the prime minister for not showing up, and was joined on stage by Nationals leader David Littleproud, deputy Liberal leader Sussan Ley, and other frontbenchers including Jacinta Nampijinpa Price. Pauline Hanson and Bob Katter put in appearances because they love this kind of thing.
Things got a little awkward for Littleproud when he was forced to confront a heckler over his water policy in the Murray Darling Basin while agriculture minister. Farmers too are a broad church and don’t they have long memories? And if Ley felt any awkwardness over her previous support for a live export ban, even moving a private member’s bill to that effect in 2018, well she didn’t show it. Ancient history, kids.
As for Keep the Sheep, the group is getting plenty of help from the industry at large. Regular readers will recall how we revealed earlier this week the organisation fronted by charismatic truckie Ben “Benno” Sutherland puts out an email produced using slick political campaign software Nation Builder, while its website is created by the expert digital agency Campaign Surge, founded by former Dutts staffer Peter Hosking.
Now CBD has learnt former Howard government staffer turned ag-sector lobbyist Peter McMahon is lending a hand to the Keep the Sheep cause. Coincidentally, he lobbies for Emanuel Exports, a prominent WA-based live exporter which had its licence temporarily suspended after 60 Minutes aired gruesome footage of its sheep onboard a ship to the Middle East. A criminal case against the company was dropped last year.
McMahon insisted his involvement was not a story, which for us is a surefire way to end up in the newspaper.
Mark Harvey-Sutton, chief executive of industry group Australian Live Exporters’ Council, was more chatty. “There was a lot of frustration there … [farmers] were ropeable that the prime minister and agricultural minister didn’t bother to show up.”
As to the future, expect more big rig action coming to a lawn near you, readers. “We very much have the election in mind,” Harvey-Sutton said.
CHANGE IS GOOD
Calling all lovers of “crucial conversations on how government and industry can collaborate to overcome the significant barriers to economic growth”.
Yes, it’s the Property Council of Australia Victorian division with an offer too good to refuse: a Wednesday night talkfest from the Melbourne Revitalisation and Economic Growth Forum on how revitalisation of our cities “is a shared priority for policymakers and industry leaders alike”.
So far, so Utopia.
What’s more, the event will star CBD’s favourite ex-Sky News host, man of many hats, Nicholas Reece, Lord Mayor of Melbourne.
According to the Property Council, the City of Melbourne was sponsoring the event with the Town Hall playing host. Until suddenly, it wasn’t.
Now commercial real estate group CBRE are sponsors and holding the event.
CBD did wonder if there was an unseemliness to such as event during the lord mayoral election but it turns out the caretaker period doesn’t start until Tuesday.
We had heard from City of Melbourne snouts that the Property Council was a little enthusiastic over its choice of venue and promised sponsor.
But a Property Council spokesman said: “A decision was made to change the venue for the event after our member and event sponsor CBRE offered the use of their facilities.”
And don’t worry, Reece will still be front and centre of the talkfest.
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