‘No surrender’: Rivals will have to blast John Pesutto out
Even John Pesutto’s Liberal supporters have told the leader his days are over, but he is not expected to surrender on Friday.
John Pesutto is not expected to order a leadership spill in Friday’s high-stakes party-room meeting, in a strategy that challenges the conservative forces to blast the Victorian Liberal leader out.
The Australian can reveal Mr Pesutto is unlikely to walk away from the top job, despite supporters advising him in the wake of the Moira Deeming defamation case defeat that his leadership is terminal.
While Mr Pesutto is understood to be bracing for Friday’s vote on allowing Mrs Deeming back into the fold to expand into a leadership spill, the fact he hasn’t surrendered – along with his decision to allow absent MPs to vote remotely – suggests he remains hopeful for a reprieve or is at least aiming to help his moderate supporters have more influence in electing a new leadership team.
Opposition police spokesman and conservate faction leader Brad Battin remains the favourite candidate to replace Mr Pesutto as opposition leader.
The bitter divisions among Victorian Liberal MPs continued to widen over Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, with the party descending into civil war ahead of Friday’s critical meeting at Parliament House.
On Christmas Eve, Mr Battin’s supporters were branded “rebels” by an MP aligned with the moderates as Mr Pesutto made what could be one of his final plays as Opposition Leader.
Liberal MPs loyal to finance spokesman and moderate Jess Wilson are furious at what they claim is the Battin camp’s moves to shut her out of being the next deputy leader.
“In a characteristically nasty move, the ‘rebels’ wanted to bring the party-room meeting forward to this Friday to deliberately disenfranchise key Jess backers who are currently away,” one Liberal MP said. “Well, now the ball game has changed. Here’s yet another opportunity to do the best thing and move on from this shit show in a unified and dignified way. It’s now in Brad’s court.”
The Liberal MP was referring to a Christmas Eve move by Mr Pesutto to allow at least two MPs who are away on holiday to vote remotely in Friday’s meeting. Traditionally, MPs could only vote if they attended in person.
In an email to all MPs on Tuesday, Mr Pesutto said he was going to allow absent MPs to vote in the meeting, which will also consider whether to allow Ms Deeming back into the party room.
Mr Pesutto told colleagues that as leader, he could “determine whether such exceptional circumstances exist that a meeting should be held remotely”.
“I have sought advice from the shadow attorney-general who advises that it is open to me in the circumstances to exercise the authority to enable remote participation,” he wrote.
“Given the time of year, I had called this meeting for 15 January 2025 so that all members could participate in person.
“To enfranchise all members of the parliamentary party for this Friday’s meeting, I therefore invoke clause 10 and have requested that the State Director (cc’d) devise the appropriate ballot format as required by the first schedule. I strongly recommend that all members attend in person.”
Despite Mr Pesutto’s move, it’s unlikely he can survive in the top job and it’s unclear whether he will even stand to defend his position. But some are interpreting the inclusion of the absent MPs as being favourable to Ms Wilson’s hopes of becoming deputy leader.
Some Liberal MPs have been angered by Mr Pesutto’s late move, with Brighton MP James Newbury telling colleagues the party constitution “does not provide the leader with the power to offer a remote meeting where a member is on holidays and given five full days’ notice of the meeting”.
“It is clear that a holiday does not make it ‘impossible’ for a member to return for the meeting,” Mr Newbury stated.
Mr Battin, a member of the party’s conservative faction, remains the favourite to replace Mr Pesutto as he edges closer to stitching up the numbers.
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