Backroom Baz: Old grudges die hard in Liberal Party’s new dawn
With the third new Liberal leader to take the helm in 11 months, all eyes are now on the pending shadow cabinet reshuffle. But there’s already been some musical chairs inside parliament.
With the third new Liberal leader to take the helm in 11 months, all eyes are now on the pending shadow cabinet reshuffle. But ahead of that, there has already been a shuffling of seating arrangements inside parliament. Brad Battin was relegated to the loneliest seat in the Legislative Assembly, the one that has become synonymous with former leaders.
It spared a musical chairs chain of events that has put some of the party’s biggest rivals sitting alongside each other. John Pesutto sat next to Kim Wells, who for years worked hand in glove with Moira Deeming in her legal battle against Pesutto, James Newbury remains sat next to Matthew Guy – and if rumours are to be believed the former besties are now nothing of the sort – and former deputy David Southwick, who was hopeful of regaining the job in the Battin coup, is now sat alongside Richard Riordan, Battin’s loyal lieutenant. A new dawn it may be, but grudges dies hard.
Victoria Police’s social media post raises eyebrows
Talking of grudges, Victoria Police have carried much of the burden of Victoria’s crime crisis. So is the organisation now carrying some institutional animosity against the Allan Labor government? A social media post on the force’s official LinkedIn page this week suggests it might be. Spruiking its latest Community Sentiment Survey, which found key issues of community concern included safety in public spaces, safety of property and possessions and drugs and alcohol related issues, the force said it would work with partners to “come up with initiatives to address your safety concerns”.
And what was attached to the post? A picture of new Liberal Party leader Jess Wilson! A subtle endorsement? Surely not! But the post raised more than a few eyebrows on Spring St. Cops rallied hard against the government, and Jacinta Allan personally, during protracted negotiations over a new deal. But with all that done and dusted, with very good results for police, Baz suspected the anger levelled at the government may have subsided. Maybe not!
Libs going backwards in all important election year
Uh oh. This week marks the one year out mark for the 2026 state election, and to mark the occasion the Victorian Liberal Party was set to hold a gala fundraising dinner to kick off the election year. Fundraising of course being crucial to locking in the dollars that run campaigns and lead to electoral success. So it’s not a good start when the plush Crown Palladium dinner, which had some tickets listed at $1300-a-head, actually costs money. As revealed in these pages the dinner was called off after a flood of cancellations following the coup of former Opposition Leader Brad Battin. Baz is now told the party has been left with a $175,000 bill to cover the late cancellation. Now he’s sure boffins in head office will be negotiating a deal to rein in that futile spend, but any way you slice it, being forced to pay for a dinner that was supposed to boost the coffers is not a good start to an election year. Talk about going backwards.
Labor odds on favourite to sail to victory
They say follow the market. And given we’re now within striking distance of the next election, Baz thought it good time to check in with the bookies to get a feel for what punters are thinking.
Despite needing to make history to win a fourth consecutive term, Labor remain the odds on favourite to sail through to victory, with Sportsbet paying $1.55, while the Coalition are sitting at $2.50. Baz is sure those figures will move around over the next 12 months and will keep readers updated. But at this stage, it looks like Labor’s strong 16-seat majority looks too strong for punters to see a way through for the Coalition. Watch this space.
Familiar face returns for Liberal’s “fresh start”
Promo material spruiking new Opposition Leader Jess Wilson was fired out from Liberal HQ this week, plastered with slogans promising a “fresh start”.
This of course raised some eyebrows on Spring St, given that one of the first new appointments was that of former media director Alex Woff who has returned to the fold in the same position.
Woff left in the office clean-out after John Pesutto was toppled by Brad Battin 11 months ago, but was back within minutes of Wilson snaring the top job this week. The names of a slew of other former staffers are also being bandied about as part of Wilson’s promised new fresh start.
It all risks becoming a little more back to the future than the new dawn that has been touted by some MPs.
Overheard
“No one would be surprised that I’m excited for a Wilson Liberal-led government.” Federal MP Tim Wilson backs in new Victorian Opposition Leader Jess Wilson.
Guess who
Which MP has recently spent close to $20,000 to have security roller shutters installed around their home to combat the state’s crime crisis?
Originally published as Backroom Baz: Old grudges die hard in Liberal Party’s new dawn
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