‘No unity … the party room is in absolute tatters’: Victorian Liberal Party erupts
The Victorian Liberals are in crisis amid claims the party lacks unity and senior minister Matthew Guy and MP Wayne Farnham abandoned parliament to fly to South America, in a move that blindsided leader Brad Battin.
Victorian Liberal MPs are at war amid the party’s new commitment to completing the Suburban Rail Loop and controversial comments made by a MP comparing Dan Andrews to Joseph Stalin.
It comes after senior shadow minister Matthew Guy and backbencher MP Wayne Farnham abandoned parliament to fly to South America in a move that came as a shock to leader Brad Battin.
Mr Battin has confirmed he was not informed of the absences and “will be talking to both MPs” about his expectations on their return.
The Herald Sun has confirmed internal ructions have exploded inside the party room this week as tensions boiled over about a lack of clear messaging and party unity.
On Tuesday, MPs went head-to-head at the first party room meeting since Shadow Public Transport Minister Matthew Guy committed the Coalition to completing the SRL if elected to government.
In a significant divergence from the party’s long-held position to pause and review the project if elected, Mr Guy said if tunnel boring had begun the project would go ahead.
That commitment came as a shock to party members, including Mr Battin, who was understood to be furious with Mr Guy’s public comments.
Multiple MPs, speaking anonymously about party room deliberations, said the issue came to a head at a behind-closed-doors meeting on Tuesday that led to chaotic scenes between MPs.
At least three MPs are understood to have called for clarity around the issue and a return to the position the party had previously been prosecuting.
It prompted what one MP described as a “wild reaction” from Mr Guy, who insisted he had been following the party’s formal position.
“He lost the plot, completely lost his temper, it was quite vicious,” one MP said.
“If I had to outline our position right now to a constituent, I literally couldn’t,” they said.
“Brad looked weak. Because he is trying so hard to be nice he’s not clear (he) can’t properly articulate where we stand.”
Tensions further boiled over at a Coalition party room meeting on Thursday in which Mr Battin is understood to have taken MPs to task over a disastrous debate about a plan to honour Daniel Andrews with a bronze statue.
The debate was led by Moira Deeming — who tabled a petition against the plan by almost 13,000 Victorians — but was thrown off course after upper house MP Ann-Marie Hermans compared Mr Andrews to murderous Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin.
She later conceded that she could have chosen “wiser” words during her contribution to the debate.
“Obviously, words could have been chosen and could have been wiser in reflection, but at the end of the day, I think the real issue is that people need to realise how many people have been hurt after taking the Andrews leadership,” Ms Hermans said.
“There is still a lot of Victorians who are hurting, a lot of people who don’t want Marxism to actually take over our state, and they don’t want a leader that is actually going to dictate to them and hurt their families and their incomes.”
Mr Battin on Thursday refused to rebuke the comments but said he would not have used the same comparison.
The debate was further thrown off course after senior Liberals failed to attend a vote to take notice of the debate motion, in defiance of a party room agreement.
“It just shows that there is absolutely no unity at the moment,” one MP said.
“The party room is in absolute tatters.”
Mr Battin is understood to have infuriated some MPs by not raising their failure to vote in the debate, while also singling out Mrs Deeming and questioning if she would prefer to be an “independent”.
MPs told the Herald Sun the attack on Mrs Deeming was “unjustified”.
It comes amid growing leadership speculation and increased talks of a potential leadership challenge, in the fallout from the latest round of disastrous polling for the Coalition.
It showed they would potentially lose even more seats at next year’s election and hand Labor not just a historic fourth consecutive term but an unprecedented increased majority.
Mr Guy has, for weeks, been touted as a potential contender to return to the leadership.
But MPs from opposing factions within the party said he had dashed any hopes of a return because of his SRL gaffe.
He had also sparked significant concern among colleagues after they learned he would miss Thursday’s parliamentary sitting day to fly to South America for a work trip with Mr Farnham.
The pair also visited Chile, Brazil and Argentina last year “to establish better trade and political relations between southern South American nations and Victoria”.
“I sought to better engage our state with these economies and to build relationships that may be worthwhile for our state’s economic future,” Mr Guy said in an official travel report of the trip.
“I have now visited South America three times. First on a delegation with two Victorian members of parliament, secondly by myself and on this occasion, for Shadow Ministerial business, accompanied by the member for Narracan, Wayne Farnham MP.
“This trip for Mr Farnham and myself was primarily focused on infrastructure — rail in particular — and learnings about operation and construction in cities where rail networks are growing rapidly and with far, far greater value for money for the taxpayer.”
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