John Pesutto on comeback trail from on-air humiliation

John Pesutto still harbours Liberal leadership aspirations years after the heartache of being ousted from politics on live TV.

John Pesutto with his wife, Betty. Picture: David Crosling

John Pesutto still harbours leadership aspirations three years on from the heartache of being ousted from politics live on air.

The former MP — who infamously lost the unlosable seat of Hawthorn to Labor incumbent John Kennedy — was the most high-profile casualty of the Liberals’ 2018 election bloodbath, which saw the party stripped to just 31 seats.

With less than a year to go until Victorians head to the polls, Mr Pesutto vividly remembers the evening of November 24, 2018.

“Losing your seat on live national TV is not something I’d wish on anyone,” he says.

But it was a message from his older brother on Sunday November 25, a day that Mr Pesutto describes as one of his “toughest ever days”, that pushed him back to the polls.

Pesutto was preselected to run as the Liberal candidate for Hawthorn. Picture: David Crosling

“He told me ‘that was the night that you became the politician that you should be’. That has stuck with me and it’s why I’ve spent the last three years learning, working and growing.”

In his first sit down interview since being endorsed unopposed by the party for preselection, Mr Pesutto told the Herald Sun his first order of business is winning back the seat of Hawthorn.

He won’t rule out a tilt at the top job, but also won’t try to topple current opposition leader Matthew Guy for it.

Asked if he sees himself as a future leader, Mr Pesutto responds: “I would never rule anything out”.

He adds: “I don’t think anyone who goes into state or federal politics rules out wanting to be a leader. I want to play a leadership role, but leadership isn’t always about your title, it’s about the role you play. The only thing that should drive you is purpose, not ambition.”

If he is to clinch the once-blue ribbon seat back, Mr Pesutto expects to be thrown into a portfolio, whatever one it may be.

“I would like to think I have what it takes to serve in a Guy government in a senior leadership capacity,” he says.

The Liberal Party need to win an extra 18 seats to form government, a feat that many say is impossible.

But Mr Pesutto maintains “history has shown us that any election is winnable”.

“I’m actually confident that we can win it,” he said.