If we accept that the fundamental aim of political parties is to win elections and then govern on behalf of their constituents, then there is a strong case that the Victorian branch of the Liberal Party no longer meets the definition.
Having steadily improved in the polls under John Pesutto as the problems of the state’s Labor government mounted, some predicted that Victoria’s Liberals would turn the tide at federal level, winning a raft of seats and delivering Peter Dutton the prime ministership.
Former Victorian Liberal leader John Pesutto.Credit: Eddie Jim
Those lost in this pipe dream did not worry that the state branch was already reverting to the form of a circular firing squad, in which an ousted Pesutto and his nemesis, Moira Deeming, were expected to work together even as she pressed him for personally ruinous millions in court costs.
Another member of the humiliated Team Pesutto, shadow health spokeswoman Georgie Crozier, then decided to angrily call out party colleague Sam Groth over alleged misuse of a taxpayer-funded car (which he insists was within the rules).
The Victorian Liberal Party has lost six of the past seven state elections, stretching back to the defeat of Jeff Kennett in 1999. That first reversal came out of the blue, but ever since the state party has stumbled in the dark over its identity and leadership.
For years, it seemed religious conservatives were determined to turn the party of the social establishment and capital into a Trojan horse for their agendas on abortion and homosexuality. At times – think Bernie Finn or Geoff Shaw – this looked like a simple case of the tail trying to wag the dog.
Deeming – who inherited Finn’s Western Metropolitan seat – is the latest manifestation of this trend, with her eyes set firmly on an ideological destination to which her fellow MPs can either accede or be swept aside, and if that means remaining in opposition, so be it.
At the height of his confidence, Dutton suggested intervention by the federal party in this mess. Such an undertaking seems laughable now, given that Sussan Ley is already up to her eyeballs in the battle to steer the Coalition’s shrinking ship in Canberra and leading lights of the Victorian federal landscape, Josh Frydenberg and Michael Sukkar, have been discarded by voters.
It is also not clear such an intervention would improve matters, given the party’s recent experience in NSW, where Howard-era minister Richard Alston and Alan Stockdale, Victoria’s treasurer under Kennett, are ushers of renewal. Stockdale’s remarks to the NSW Liberal Women’s Council that “women are sufficiently assertive now” defy satire.
For Victorian Liberal leader Brad Battin, keen to pursue the Allan government over traditional issues such as economic mismanagement and its response to crime, the temptation to stay out of the latest internal machinations may be strong. But The Age believes he must act decisively, and soon.
Moira Deeming leaves a Liberal Party meeting.Credit: Wayne Taylor
It is no secret that Deeming and her supporters helped deliver Battin the leadership. But if he is serious about using that leadership to win government, he must somehow engineer an end to this bloodletting. That could mean the party’s administrative committee paying Pesutto’s court costs, or approaching the Cormack Foundation – which was, in the dim and distant past, set up to benefit the party – to do so.
Kennett, who backed Pesutto during Deeming’s defamation action, has also made this argument, though he may have been prompted by news that Deeming might pursue third parties – potentially including the former premier and sitting Liberal MPs – for her payout.
Those concerned about moral hazard are correct that a party’s solvency should not be placed in the hands of a maverick individual who has demonstrated carelessness towards legal guardrails. However, Pesutto, undeniably found in the wrong by the courts, is not by anyone’s measure a renegade or cavalier.
If we choose to believe Deeming’s line that this is simply about recovering her costs, then having done so she should be able to concentrate on her new role as “representative to the western suburbs”.
The alternative for Battin is to see Pesutto ejected from parliament and a byelection in Hawthorn that could be as damaging for the Liberals as the 2023 federal byelection in Aston. What is more, the rows about money would keep spilling onto the steps of parliament.
In October last year, Deeming aligned herself unequivocally with Dutton, Jacinta Nampijinpa Price and Claire Chandler in condemning the Victorian branch as “Labor lite”. With that trio’s stars having well and truly fallen in Canberra, Battin has some clear air in which to talk about policy.
Whether he decides to shift the Liberals towards voters – as Ley signalled she will when vowing to “respect modern Australia” – or tries to lead them to different ground, he will need a united team to prosecute the arguments successfully.
Brad Battin must engineer an end to the bloodletting,Credit: Wayne Taylor
On the other hand, assuming the electorate will eventually decide the government is no good and swing back to you is fine – as long as you don’t mind being in power four years out of every 24 and spending the rest of your time watching your opponents reshape the playing field.
Victorians deserve an opposition that is more ambitious and cohesive than that. It is time to pay the Deeming debt and get on with the job.
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