John Pesutto applauded, but Moira Deeming threat looms

Victorian Leader of the Opposition John Pesutto MP at the Victorian Liberal state council conference on Sunday. Picture: Facebook / Liberal Victoria

Standing ovations from the converted aren’t usually significant in politics.

But when Victorian Liberal Party true believers got to their feet to applaud John Pesutto on Sunday, it was further evidence that the political tide is – albeit slowly – turning.

It’s not that the state council crowd was ever going to vote Labor but the reality for the Opposition Leader is that without Liberals uniting behind him first, why would the rest of Victoria bother.

For most of his 20 months in the job, Pesutto has been forced to wage political war on two fronts; attacking the Andrews-Allan Labor government while looking over his shoulder was not a sustainable pathway to power.

As the half-way mark of Labor’s third term approaches (the next election is in November 2026), things are firming for Pesutto.

Daniel Andrews is gone and it’s clear from her performance managing Labor’s budget and economic disaster and the crisis engulfing the Labor-linked CFMEU, that Jacinta Allan isn’t made of teflon.

The polls are revealing a plunge in support for Labor.

Green shoots of confidence were evident as Pesutto spoke with rare confidence and threw some red meat at Liberals.

“We are faced with a clearly corrupt government,” he said.

“We are faced with a business community that is smashed day in, day out.

“Our reputation as a state has been taking battering after battering, whether it was the Commonwealth Games, and now whether it is the CFMEU.”

For all the emerging confidence, Pesutto faces some massive challenges.

While Labor’s support is falling in polls, voters aren’t exactly rushing towards the Liberals. The party needs a primary vote with a 4 in front of it to win in 2026.

And strong alternative policies need to be rolled out and sold.

But – there is always a “but” when you talk about the Victorian Liberal Party – the biggest challenge for Pesutto remains the Liberal Party.

Specifically, Moira Deeming’s Federal Court defamation action against him in September.

In his favour, internal support for the conservative Liberal MP has fallen.

Even some Liberals who believe Pesutto went too far in his actions and commentary around Deeming now believe that with Labor unravelling, the party must get behind the leader.

For Pesutto, the stakes in the Federal Court defamation action could not be higher.

Party insiders agree that the legal action could seriously undermine his leadership and wipe out the gains of recent months – and potentially his leadership.

And even if he wins in court, he could still lose in the court of public opinion.