Matt Johnston: Opposition Leader Michael O’Brien needs to make his own mark
State Opposition Leader Michael O’Brien knows he must establish his own profile rather than let Labor do it for him, writes Matt Johnston.
Opinion
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Victorian Opposition Leader Michael O’Brien recently posted a video about his mother on social media. O’Brien, who took over from Matthew Guy as Victorian Liberal leader in December, was filmed on a leather Chesterfield next to a carefully positioned Sherrin, a framed photo of a baby and a Carlton Football Club cap.
Aside from displaying an excellent taste in footy teams, O’Brien was attempting to show a softer side. He recalls his mum teaching him about resilience and about reward for effort, peppering the tribute with vision of him as a little tacker.
The member for Malvern is self-aware enough to realise most Victorians don’t know who he is, while some vaguely remember him as a former state treasurer, so the size of the task he is beginning is daunting. The social media page on which he released the video about his mum has 1711 followers compared with Premier Daniel Andrews’ 556,000 followers.
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O’Brien, who ditched his glasses for his first press conference as leader and hasn’t looked back, has effected a slightly optimistic and almost cheerful tone during many of his early public outings.
Guy was personable and charming in private, but struggled to translate that to a wider audience, partly because his party failed to produce a soft-sell campaign until the state election was almost over. Labor attacked Guy’s reputation like rabid animals, while pushing out slick footage of Dan being a daggy dad to blunt attempts by the Coalition to paint him as the agitated bully.
O’Brien was among those perplexed by the minimal money spent on Guy’s image in the months and years leading up to polling day and will be keen to avoid that. Many people will rightly point out that image politics doesn’t matter so much if the broader picture is blurry.
The big issues may or may not be explored in detail by party elder Tony Nutt in his report on what went wrong for the Coalition in 2018. Whether his report is released officially before the federal election — surely, it will be leaked if not — is unclear.
O’Brien and his small team of MPs are, like the rest of the population of Australia, waiting for the federal election to be over. Hardcore Coalition supporters pray Queensland and NSW voters can help the Morrison government weather the political storm it has created. In Victoria, many Liberals think the results will be apocalyptic because the political issues being exploited by the government to aid their survival are toxic to many Victorians.
Perhaps, some even hope for a decisive result that will force a change of approach — like in the UK last decade when David Cameron took over the Tories.
At that time, current PM Theresa May critiqued her own side by saying its base was narrow “and so, occasionally, are our sympathies”.
“You know what some people call us — the Nasty Party,” she said.
Some people close to Guy — and probably Guy, himself — watched the ALP try to portray the Victorian Liberals as the nasty party.
In the final weeks of the campaign, an angry looking Guy was plastered across billboards next to menacing photos of Peter Dutton and Scott Morrison.
One Liberal MP says turning around this image in future is not about being soft on border protection, or aimlessly spending big to appease voters. You can be tough but fair — something some people say approvingly about their parents’ treatment when they were growing up.
BEING in Opposition, an inherently negative role, also doesn’t mean you can’t put forward positive ideas.
Ted Baillieu, who won the 2010 election largely on law and order, attacking Labor for overspending and public transport woes, wasn’t viewed as particularly nasty.
With only two months until the next federal election, Nutt’s report is likely to be diplomatic about federal factors that contributed to the state team’s disastrous showing in November.
Perhaps, he will simply say that Victorians didn’t like the fact Malcolm Turnbull was dumped as prime minister with little explanation as to why.
While Nutt’s report may also look at how to grow real membership involvement in party matters (not just growing numbers by stacking branches), fundraising reform and co-ordination of campaigns, it would be a worthier exercise if a part II was released after the May election.
A lot will change after that.
The video about his mum was a toe in the water for O’Brien.
Even so, he must build his own profile, rather than let Labor define him or be viewed only as Daniel Andrews’ opponent.
And you never know — one day the Premier might do a Steve Bracks or Mike Baird and depart before the next election.
For what it’s worth, if Dan did decide to hand over the baton, it would almost certainly be to a woman.
Matt Johnston is state politics editor
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