Matthew Johnston: Opposition leader’s Lobster Cave dinner sort of mistake he cannot afford
LEAVING some increasingly cynical voters with the impression he dines out with alleged mobsters is the sort of mistake Matthew Guy cannot afford, writes Matthew Johnston.
Opinion
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- Victoria’s Opposition Leader Matthew Guy had dinner with alleged mafia figure
- Matthew Guy faces intense internal pressure of Lobster Cave dinner
- Editorial: Matthew Guy guilty of massive error in judgment
THIS week, Matthew Guy was plastered across billboards by the cash-strapped Liberal Party pledging “safer communities”.
On Tuesday, he was splashed across national news headlines after it was revealed he dined on lobster with an alleged mobster.
The April meal at a Beaumaris restaurant was apparently supposed to be a catch-up with prominent Liberal Frank Lamattina and a few others from the fruit and vegetable industry. One of those people turned out to be Tony Madafferi.
Police allege Madafferi is a mafia boss. They recently argued he should be banned from casinos and racetracks because of “close involvement with serious criminal conduct, including drug importation, murder and extortion”.
Not really the sort of bloke you want to rub shoulders with when you’re running a law and order campaign.
Some Liberals said they were concerned Guy’s version of events has not been entirely consistent, and that this story may yet have legs in it.
Guy’s initial response had been that there were about 20 of Lamattina’s relatives at the dinner.
It turns out there might have been only a few — including Madafferi.
There was also a mid-afternoon bombshell that according to a secretly recorded phone conversation another Liberal at the dinner, Barrie Macmillan, had supplied a guest list to Guy’s office.
Guy said he never saw the list.
Late on Tuesday, Guy referred the matter to the Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission, saying he was confident it would find he had done nothing wrong.
The last Liberal leader to do something like that was Ted Baillieu, during a crisis over secret tapes that lifted the lid on dealings over chaos in police command.
That didn’t end well for Baillieu, even though IBAC never investigated. The big difference is that Guy has his party room behind him, while Baillieu didn’t.
On Tuesday, even colleagues who aren’t always on the same page steadfastly resisted sticking the knife in.
Whether everyone in the broader party is as united is a different matter. Big questions are being asked about how certain details of the “lobster mobster” dinner got to journalists.
Regardless, Guy knows he must ultimately take responsibility. He went to the Lobster Cave, and he’s the one on the billboards.
Leaving some increasingly cynical voters with the impression he dines out with alleged mobsters is the sort of mistake he cannot afford.
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