Jeff Kennett push divides Victorian Liberals ahead of poll

Jeff Kennett’s push to take over the Victorian Liberal presidency is facing some heavy internal opposition designed to spike the move.

Former Victorian premier Jeff Kennett. Picture: Getty Images

Jeff Kennett’s push to take over the Victorian Liberal presidency is facing some heavy internal opposition designed to spike the move.

Incumbent president Robert Clark is being encouraged to run against the former Victorian premier in what Kennett backers said would be a “nightmare” scenario for the party as it prepares to fight a federal election.

Senior party sources said that Mr Clark had not decided whether to run against Mr Kennett but that several senior members of his grouping were agitating for him to remain in the position.

Party sources said the deep split in the state opposition that caused the recent leadership challenge against Michael O’Brien had now switched to the party presidency, with claims Mr Kennett would back former state leader Matthew Guy to replace Mr O’Brien.

The most likely result if Mr Kennett, 73, were to run is that he would defeat Mr Clark because of his high profile as a reformist premier who helped turn around the state’s finances.

While Mr Clark, a former Baillieu minister, is respected within the party, he does not carry anywhere near the same political weight or energy as Mr Kennett.

Mr Kennett wants to run for two years in the position, with a mandate to reform the state branch, which has failed miserably for most of the 22 years since the Kennett government was defeated by Labor’s Steve Bracks.

“Discussions are continuing,” Mr Kennett told The Australian.

He believes the next state election, to be held at the end of next year, is winnable because of community concerns about the way the Andrews government contributed to the second wave of the pandemic, which killed hundreds of people in Victoria.

Senior Liberals told The Australian that Mr Clark’s presidency had become dominated by the years-long internal factional battles that have undermined the ­performance of the state branch.

Mr Kennett is being backed by Josh Frydenberg and other key ministers, while Mr Clark has the backing of key members of the party’s administrative wing.

Supporters of Mr O’Brien said there was concern about the role Mr Kennett would take during an election campaign. “It will put (the Opposition Leader) in an invidious position if Kennett runs,” one O’Brien supporter said.

“Labor will be able to run attack ads on public service cuts and highlight the divisions between the organisational wing and the parliamentary wing.”

However, supporters of Mr Kennett said failure to back change would consign the party to more years in the wilderness and further split the already divided state party.

Another senior Liberal said change was needed because of structural problems with campaigning, communications and ­attracting talent to the frontbench.

While the federal government is awash with senior Victorian ministers, the state Liberals have held power for only one term in the past 22 years.

A supporter of Mr Clark said that he would not be blasted out of the position and would be even more inclined to run again if a campaign were mounted against him in the media.

“Robert won’t be told what to do — it’s not how he thinks or works,” a supporter said.

Mr Clark is one of the most socially conservative state Liberals in the party’s history but he is also respected for his earnestness and desire to adhere to his principles.