Battin and Wilson camps trade blows ahead of Liberal vote
Just hours before a critical meeting, rivals are waging a war of words. And in a surprise, a third Liberal MP has entered the leadership race.
Rival leadership contenders are trading blows just hours before a critical meeting of Victorian Liberal MPs to determine who will get the top job.
The Brad Battin camp has launched a strong attack on shadow finance minister Jess Wilson who revealed on Thursday night that she would run for the leadership at the Parliament House meeting.
A Battin supporter told The Australian Ms Wilson had not done the “hard yards” and was rewriting history in claiming there was no offer of a unity ticket that would have installed her as Mr Battin’s deputy.
Close to 30 Liberal MPs will gather at 10am for what now looms as an explosive meeting which has been triggered by John Pesutto’s disintegrating leadership in the wake of the Moira Deeming defamation case defeat. He is not expected to contest the leadership.
“The leadership should never be simply handed to anyone, you have to work for it, and Jess has not done the work,” a Battin-aligned Liberal MP said.
The Battin camp said Ms Wilson had been offered the deputy leadership position last week, but declined to accept it, and made it clear she wanted the leadership.
Overnight, Liberal MP Chris Crewther also told colleagues he intended running for the leadership, leading to Ms Wilson’s camp claiming Mr Battin’s support base was splintering.
“It’s now clear that Brad Battin’s backers are divided as their vote is split,” a Wilson-aligned Liberal MP said.
“Jess Wilson remains the only leadership candidate that can lead a united team.”
In an email sent to colleagues at 12.47am, Mr Crewther, the member for Mornington, said:
“I am writing to let you know that, after much consideration, I have decided to put my hand up for the leadership in the event of a successful spill motion.
“We have an opportunity to unite to defeat Labor, who’ve been in Government for 21 out of the last 25 years.
“We must bring together all our talents – and the strengths of every single MP – to do so. “And we must have each other’s backs at all times. We must care for each other, as we’d care for Victorians in Government.”
Both Battin and Wilson camps agree the vote could be tight. “It’s so close that the swing of a couple of unknowns could change it,” one Liberal MP said on Friday morning.
The Liberal MPs will first debate a move by Mr Pesutto to allow two Liberal MPs overseas on holidays to vote remotely at today’s meeting. Then the meeting will vote on — and likely support — whether to allow Mrs Deeming back into the party room. Mrs Deeming would then be entitled to vote in a leadership spill, and would be expected to vote for Mr Battin.
In a statement released shortly before 7pm on Thursday, Ms Wilson revealed she would throw her hat into the ring, despite party room numbers trending towards Mr Battin.
Ms Wilson, 34, elected to parliament only two years ago in the seat of Kew, said she was best placed and determined to hold the Allan Government to account.
“If a spill motion is successful tomorrow, I will be a candidate for Leader of the state parliamentary Liberal Party,” she said.
“I’m a proud Melburnian. I’m a proud Victorian. But it breaks my heart to see our city and our state struggling under the weight of an incompetent Labor government that has trashed our economy and made it harder for families to get ahead.
“Holding Labor accountable for their economic vandalism, and its consequences, and presenting a positive agenda to provide Victorians with a real choice at the next election is what is driving me to stand for the leadership.”
Ms Wilson’s last-ditch intervention sets the scene for an explosive meeting of Liberal MPs at 10am on Friday at Parliament House. She is considered a moderate and an ally of Mr Pesutto.
It is likely Mr Pesutto won’t run if a spill is called.
In her statement, Ms Wilson attacked the Battin camp for opposing a bid to allow some absent MPs on holidays to vote remotely.
“It is unfortunate my colleagues have been asked to consider this issue at a time when many are overseas on long-planned leave with their families,” she said.
“To ensure the integrity of the outcome, I hope each and every one of them is given the opportunity to have their say on the future of the Victorian Liberals on behalf of the party members who preselected them and constituents who elected them.”
Ms Wilson also launched her bid for the top job after confirming with the Battin camp that she would not be offered the deputy leadership position.
“The best way forward to defeat Jacinta Allan and Labor was with a unified leadership ticket,” she said. “Unfortunately, it has been made clear to me today that a unity ticket is no longer on the table.
“Given that and after consulting my colleagues, I’ve decided to stand to offer them a choice.
“Whatever the outcome, my colleagues know they can count on me to work hard all day, every day, to defeat this tired and corrupt Labor government.”
Earlier on Thursday, Mr Battin was closing a net around an embattled Mr Pesutto as he plotted a leadership challenge at Friday’s critical meeting of Liberal Party MPs.
Multiple Liberal MPs in the Battin and Pesutto camps told The Australian they believed the shadow police minister had locked in the support of “at least” 16 MPs which, if delivered in the party room meeting, would give him the leadership.
Given the volatile history of the Victorian Liberal Party, it is impossible to rule out a late twist in favour of Ms Wilson after what has been two weeks of turmoil triggered by Mr Pesutto’s emphatic loss to ousted Liberal MP Moira Deeming in a Federal Court defamation case.
As revealed by The Australian, Mr Battin telephoned Mr Pesutto on Boxing Day to personally tell him he would mount a challenge at Friday’s high-stakes meeting of Victorian Liberal MPs.
The Liberal partyroom could have as many as 31 members voting tomorrow if the two absent MPs are allowed to vote remotely and if Mrs Deeming is readmitted into the fold ahead of the spill.
“Brad has the numbers and will be challenging for the leadership;, he’s telephoned John (on Thursday) morning to tell him this,” a senior Liberal MP told The Australian.
Mr Battin’s camp is now confident it no longer needs the support of those Liberal MPs grouped around Ms Wilson.
Former Aussie tennis ace Sam Groth is expected to be the frontrunner to take over the deputy leadership.
It’s unclear whether Mr Pesutto would contest a leadership spill, but with the numbers trending towards Mr Battin, it seems most likely that he will not run.
Although Ms Wilson had indicated that she had ambitions for the leadership, then the deputy leadership when she realised the top job would probably not be hers, her supporters had been urging her not to run.
That would have meant Mr Battin would have been installed without a contested vote.
Friday’s meeting is expected to vote in favour of welcoming Mrs Deeming back into the party but before that vote, there will be a showdown over Mr Pesutto’s plans to allow two MPs away on holiday to vote remotely.
Mr Battin’s camp are opposed to this.
“Remote voting is only designed for exceptional circumstances like a pandemic … being away on holiday should not be defined as exceptional circumstances,” one Battin-aligned Liberal MP said.
Losing his two-year grip on the leadership will not be the end of Mr Pesutto’s trouble as he faces a crippling legal bill of up to $2m in the wake of the defamation case against Mrs Deeming.
The Federal Court ruled that Mr Pesutto had defamed Mrs Deeming on five occasions by comments that associated her to neo-Nazis and awarded her $315,000 in damages.
The court has also ordered Mr Pesutto to pick up most of the costs.
In the initial days after the devastating legal defeat, Mr Pesutto refused to resign and used his casting vote to block Mrs Deeming’s return to the party room.
Mr Pesutto had adopted a tough-it-out strategy, conceding the judgment was “disappointing” but saying he was committed to the leadership and to holding the Allan Labor government to account.
“I’ve always been a fighter and I’ve always been a fighter for the right reasons and for the right people, the Victorian people,” the Opposition Leader said.
In a desperate bid to save his disintegrating leadership, however, Mr Pesutto did an about-face last Sunday on his blocking of Mrs Deeming’s return and called a meeting for January 15 to vote to allow her back in.
This gamble failed to defuse a revolt among his colleagues, who called a special meeting on Friday to vote on Mrs Deeming’s return, an event that most Liberal MPs believed would quickly expand into a leadership challenge.
Ms Wilson said the Liberal Party would not be able to fall into government.
“For the Liberal Party to win, we need a leader who understands and identifies with their concerns,” Ms Wilson said in her statement.
“We need a leader that has the proven policy capability and the experience to develop fresh ideas to boost home ownership, restore business confidence and save our health and education systems from crisis.”
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