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John Ferguson

Jeff Kennett push to run Victorian Liberals gains momentum

John Ferguson
Jeff Kennett.
Jeff Kennett.

Momentum is gathering behind Jeff Kennett’s push to run the Victorian Liberal Party organisation.

Liberal powerbroker Michael Kroger has thrown his weight behind Mr Kennett’s bid to take over the presidency before the next federal election.

Mr Kennett is also receiving support from notional backers of incumbent Liberal president Robert Clark, making it increasingly difficult for Mr Clark to remain in the job.

Mr Kennett will soon meet Mr Clark to discuss the former Victorian premier’s potential candidacy for the position, preferring a clear run rather than a ballot.

It is highly likely Mr Kennett would defeat Mr Clark in a ballot, regardless of how the numbers are falling in a series of party annual general meetings that have occurred in recent weeks.

Pro-Clark forces say their numbers have improved from a year ago, which means Mr Kennett would have a more difficult time running against Mr Clark.

Senior party figures said this ignored the cult status Mr Kennett holds among most older Liberals, who are well represented in the party’s State Council, which is likely to be held in May or June.

The process for conducting federal preselections is also likely to begin soon as the party starts gearing up for the next election, expected early next year.

A prominent supporter of Mr Clark told The Australian it would be hard for the faction to defeat Mr Kennett because of his status in the party as a former premier who helped transform the state in the 1990s.

“There is a lot of love for Jeff. He would obviously be a standout and probably irresistible candidate,” the backer said.

“We need to manage Robert because he is a great servant of the party.”

Senior party figures said Mr Kennett believed sweeping changes needed to be made to make the Victorian Liberal Party more electable.

A decision on whether Mr Kennett will run is likely to be made soon.

While state leader Michael O’Brien on Sunday promoted one of his chief critics, Tim Smith, in a minor reshuffle after last week’s failed leadership coup, a Kennett presidency would pile pressure on existing state MPs.

The Liberals hold 21 of 88 state seats and 12 of 38 federal seats.

“Last week was obviously a bit of a messy week in some ways, but this is about the future,” Mr O’Brien told reporters on Sunday.

Mr Kennett, 73, has had an up and down relationship with Mr Clark over recent decades, starting with homophobic comments made by Mr Clark in 1995 when he dismissed homosexuality as “harmful” and “foolish”.

Mr Clark told parliament at the time: “I believe homosexual practices form a destructive way of life, destructive to the individual and destructive to other individuals who are brought into that way of life.” Mr Clark later distanced himself from the remarks.

Mr Kennett later strongly supported the work of Mr Clark, particularly as state attorney-general in the last government, but he and others are unhappy with the way div­isions in the party have festered under his presidency.

John Ferguson
John FergusonAssociate Editor

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Original URL: https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/politics/jeff-kennett-push-to-run-victorian-liberals-gains-momentum/news-story/9f6dea5f0f8c16d5e3e0326f90981d3f