Sloppy spelling plaguing Liberal Party leader

Dodgy proofreading is yet another problem for John Pesutto, with Liberal party staff failing to get even the leader’s name right.

Shoddy proofreading is yet another thing Opposition Leader John Pesutto needs to fix within the Liberal Party. Picture: Brad Fleet

Some things never change. Among them it seems, proofreading at Liberal HQ. There may be a new leader in the house, but just how to spell his name appears to be lost on the back office staff. An “exclusive update” to a “select group of reporters” sent by the Liberal Party this week incorrectly referred to new leader John Pessuto, before later getting the spelling right referring to him correctly as John Pesutto. Half a mark for effort. Pesutto, who is a stickler for detail and putting in the hard yards, might want to sort out the sloppiness that has long plagued the party’s social media and campaign material efforts. Time might be on his side, the election’s not until 2026, but it’s never too early to make some positive change.

Despite his best efforts to demonstrate the correct spelling of his name, some in the party still can’t get it right.

Liberal Party messaging recently made an error in the spelling of John Pesutto’s name.

Next Election

Just on the next election, we might have only just got through the last one, but already the countdown is on until Victorians can head to the polls again. According to Twitter account “When’s the Next Election, LOL?”, it’s a mere 1399 days away. But who else is counting? Baz reckons one sure bet is Pesutto, who must be marking of his calendar with equal parts trepidation and excitement. Each day gone is a day less to get election ready, but is also a day closer to his potential stint as Premier. With all eyes on just how long Daniel Andrews will hang around, Baz reckons his preferred successor Jacinta Allan might be counting down the days too.

Narracan

Shaun Gilchrist died the week before the state election. Picture: Facebook

The Narracan supplementary election might now be done and dusted, but Baz reckons the electorate might stay in the news for at least another day yet. At the County Court on Monday the curious case of Nationals candidate Shaun Gilchrist will return. Gilchrist died the week before November’s election, only after which it was realised he was facing charges for rape and sexual assault. He was due to face court just days after the election, and was set to stand trial on the charges in June. On Monday, it is widely expected the case will be formally discontinued. But that won’t be the end of the matter of the Nationals, who will surely have to review their candidate vetting procedures, which angry insiders have described as “completely unacceptable”.

Chamber

Baz was thrilled to see Melbourne score the co-organising committee rights to one of the world’s biggest business events, the 14th World Chambers Congress in September 2025. Now, it might still be a while away, but it will bring together more than a thousand of the world’s leading business chamber leaders, trade delegations and local business leaders to discuss solutions for global issues impacting business, create new business opportunities and exchange and develop community best practice. It’s basically the Olympic Games of business, and it’s good to see Melbourne keeps winning rights to stage major events. There was a while there it looked like everyone was going to snub lockdown city, but the events keep rolling in. And why shouldn’t they, it might have its problems, but it’s still the best city in the world.

Hutch Hussein

Hutch Hussein co-authored an op-ed lamenting a lack of ethnic diversity in the parliament.

A few eyebrows were raised inside Labor HQ this week after an opinion piece by former ALP state president, and candidate for the seat of Polwarth, Hutch Hussein was published in a rival paper. Hussein co-authored a piece lamenting a lack of ethnic diversity in the upcoming 60th Parliament. A good read. But it wasn’t the topic of discussion that raised eyebrows, rather the way in which the piece went into painstaking detail about the massive swings suffered by Labor in its traditional heartland and discussed the fact Labor was on the nose with voters. A brutal assessment by one that ought now given her former gig as state president.

Luba

Ben Gray and Luba Grigorovitch were married on Saturday, January 21. Picture: APL Photography

A week after the event, the talk of Spring St remains the wedding of new Kororoit Labor MP Luba Grigorovtich to private equity boss Ben Gray. The nuptials saw a meeting of political and union heavyweights: Daniel Andrews was among the guests, while federal Liberal MP Alan Tudge was best man. Also among the guests were the head of Victoria’s plumbing union, Earl Setches, and Transport Workers Union assistant secretary Mem Suleyman, who were involved in a scuffle at a Christmas booze-up for Labor friendly law firm Maurice Blackburn last month. Baz’s spies say the pair avoided each other for much of the night, but exchanged a couple of words in a closely watched tense scene that left some rather amused. Baz is told it was, however, the singalong of trade union anthem Solidarity Forever that most in attendance had never witnessed at a wedding before. Baz has said it before, and will say it again: all the best Luba and Ben. Sending only good wishes.

Guess Who

Which former minister was spotted spending Australia Day bashing a golf ball around Sandringham?

Overheard

“The Russian Government’s unjustifiable war against Ukraine, enabled by the Belarusian government, is abhorrent and a flagrant breach of its international obligations.” Sports minister Steve Dimopoulos responds to reports Novak Djokovic’s father was seen posing with Russian demonstrators during a protest at the Australian Open.

Originally published as Sloppy spelling plaguing Liberal Party leader