Steve Price: Why Peta Credlin should be our next Premier

The Victorian Liberals need to get serious if they have any chance of toppling Daniel Andrews at the next election, and there may be one candidate perfect for the job.

Ronaldo Di Stasio is to food and wine in Melbourne what the late Michael Gudinski was to music.

On Wednesday night this week Ronnie, as he is affectionately known, was sitting at the end of the bar at one of his two Melbourne restaurants — Di Stasio Citta in Spring Street.

At a table at the other end of the sleek Italian diner was the former Victorian Liberal Leader Matthew Guy and the aggressively ambitious Opposition spokesman for a bag of portfolios Tim Smith.

Guy lost the last election to Victorian Labor Premier Daniel Andrews and is being talked up as potentially making a leadership comeback — an ambition he denies.

Smith is a gold medal self-promoter and sees himself as a future Liberal leader and Victorian Premier, even if others just regard him as a hot-headed blowhard.

After Ronnie had demolished his plate of pasta, he approached the Liberal pair and in his typical style and demanded to know what they were doing about getting elected and fixing the mess that is the post-COVID food and wine scene in Melbourne.

I was at a table down the other end of the restaurant and said hello to Smith as he exited the bathroom.

Liberal politicians Tim Smith with Matthew Guy and Josh Frydenberg.

Another person in the restaurant Wednesday night with knowledge of the conversation between the restaurant owner and Liberal politicians said Ronnie was just being himself — that means being passionate about Melbourne’s food and wine businesses.

The scene I watched unfolding in Di Stasio Citta this week was intriguing, given I had decided to make a suggestion in this week’s column of an alternative Liberal leader.

If Victorian Liberals were to consider replacing the current Leader of the Opposition, Michael O’Brien — as they should because he simply will get steamrolled by Daniel Andrews at the next election — what qualities would get my nominee across the line.

I started by aiming to give this person 10 ticks in an exercise to make my argument and ended up with many more positives than that.

This candidate, as they say, ticks all the boxes and unless the Victorian Liberal Party chooses someone like this person, and in a hurry, they will get slaughtered at the State election due in November 2022.

Premier Daniel Andrews must be laughing that people in the Liberal Party — inside and outside parliament — think they can win with O’Brien, a recycled Matthew Guy or the self- promoter Tim Smith.

Despite the hotel quarantine death toll, forced and overly-onerous, business-destroying lockdowns, infrastructure Budget blowouts and a list of mismanaged and bungled

projects — not to mention politically motivated social engineering laws — Daniel Andrews is on track to win another term.

He has even said he wants another crack.

To Liberal/National voters, Independent supporters and even disillusioned Labor supporters sick of Andrews’ bungles, would you vote for a Victorian Liberal Leader who ticked the following boxes?

(Tell me this is not the perfect CV for a desperate Liberal Party staring embarrassingly at another electoral smashing. I’ve got no doubt so let’s see if you agree.)

Pricey: Peta Credlin would be great as Victoria’s next Premier for many reasons.

OUR candidate turns 50 years-old in 10 days time, so they are in the prime of their working life.

THEY are Victorian born from the country town of Wycheproof and educated in Geelong.

A MELBOURNE University educated lawyer.

POLITICALLY-blooded in the most successful Federal Liberal Government in recent history, led by the legendary John Howard.

SPENT time — unlike the vast majority of other political candidates — working outside politics, in this case selling Racing Victoria as their public relations boss.

BACK in politics, our candidate worked inside both successful and unsuccessful Liberal leaders’ offices so knows success and failure.

WAS the right hand sidekick to a Prime Minister.

SWAPPED sides after her boss was cut down and took up a job in the media so understands how the media works.

HAS fronted Premier Andrews face-to-face at a media conference taking him on over the quarantine bungles.

It’s not the 10 I was working on, but I got to nine and figured my candidate — Peta Credlin — doesn’t really need much more of a sell job.

If that’s not the most impressive job application for the next person to lead a Victorian Liberal Government, I don’t believe one exists.

The only problem is it’s me submitting her name, not her, and she probably doesn’t even want the job. But if the people who keep asking me why the current leadership team in Victoria is so hopeless are any guide, they would embrace Peta enthusiastically.

Victoria needs a local version of the best State Premier in Australia and that’s NSW’s Gladys Berejiklian. Her handling of COVID and dominance over the Labor Opposition there is a perfect blueprint.

Sorry Peta if the idea horrifies you, but the current Opposition Leader and the two blokes I ran across in an Italian restaurant one night this week simply don’t cut it.

Victorian Liberals need to identify a seat for Credlin and take her to Di Stasio Citta for a chat with Ronnie.