Victorian Liberal MP Ryan Smith resigns, sparking by-election headache for John Pesutto

Victorian Liberal MP Ryan Smith has cited the ‘growing negative tone of politics’ for his surprise decision to quit after 16 years in state parliament.

Victorian Liberal MP Ryan Smith is quitting politics.

Embattled Victorian opposition leader John Pesutto is facing a by-election in the outer eastern Melbourne seat of Warrandyte, following the shock resignation of MP Ryan Smith after 16 years in state parliament.

The Liberal leader says he was not forewarned of Mr Smith’s decision, which became public when the MP released a statement to the media early on Wednesday morning, citing the “growing negative tone of politics, both internally and more broadly” for his move.

Taking in suburbs including Doncaster East, Donvale, Ringwood North, Warrandyte, Park Orchards, Warranwood, Wonga Park and Chirnside Park, the electorate of Warrandyte is located just north of the federal seat of Aston, which was won by Labor in an April by-election sparked by the resignation of former cabinet minister Alan Tudge.

Both Mr Smith and Labor candidate Naomi Oakley suffered first preference swings against them at the November state election (of 2.8 and 2.3 per cent respectively), resulting in a 0.4 per cent swing to Mr Smith two-party-preferred, and seeing him hold Warrandyte with a 4.2 per cent majority.

The Baillieu-Napthine government minister and sometime leadership hopeful had been relegated to the backbench by Mr Pesutto, and was among the 11 MPs who opposed Mr Pesutto’s push to expel upper house MP Moira Deeming earlier this month.

In his statement, Mr Smith said he felt “mixed emotions” about his decision to formally resign on July 7.

“After over sixteen years serving as the Member for Warrandyte, and with a great deal of consideration, I have decided it is time to bring this chapter of my life to a close,” the MP said.

“I have been privileged to hold this role and believe that many who choose this career do so with their communities’ best interests in mind. However, amongst other reasons, I have become increasingly uncomfortable with the growing negative tone of politics, both internally and more broadly.

“My role as a community representative has brought me into contact with an amazing array of people throughout the electorate, and I have valued the opportunity to work with and for them all.

“I have held over a dozen shadow portfolios through the years of opposition and, again, the stakeholders connected to these have been a pleasure to meet, and I appreciate everything that they took the time to teach me.

“It is important to recognise former Premiers, Ted Baillieu and Denis Napthine, who allowed me to sit at the cabinet table with them as minister for the environment and minister for youth affairs. I am very grateful for their confidence in me.”

Mr Smith thanked the Warrandyte community for electing him five times, as well as his parliamentary colleagues and the Liberal Party membership, pointedly asking them to “never forget our values and principles and to remind those who do”.

“Finally, a special thank you to my wife, Avril, and my children, Brodie and Jaime,” he said.

“My son was one when I entered politics and my daughter was born into it. I am exceedingly proud of both of them and they have been, not only the lift I need when I get home, but a big reason why I work to try to make things better for our community.

“I wish the next Member for Warrandyte the very best of luck and remain optimistic that the contest of ideas will ultimately provide Victoria with its best days ahead.”

Pesutto Address Media

 

Pesutto blindsided

Mr Pesutto revealed he had been blindsided by Mr Smith’s decision, only learning of it at the same time as the public did.

“I learned about Ryan‘s decision to resign this morning, when I read the statement like everybody else this morning, but I want to pay tribute to Ryan,” Mr Pesutto said on Wednesday morning.

“Ryan was elected to the Victorian parliament in 2006. He’s served in very senior roles, which is a testament to his capacity to contribute.

“In the Baillieu and Napthine governments he was a minister, and he served in very senior roles following our transition to opposition after the 2014 election. So I pay tribute to his work not just as a minister, not just as a parliamentarian, but I know he’s been a very active representative of the people of Warrandyte, and he’s been a very hard working local member there, too.”

Asked what he made of Mr Smith’s two-page statement, which did not include him in the list of people to be thanked, Mr Pesutto said is was for the MP to choose his mode of resignation.

“Ryan, like anybody else who chooses the timing of their own departure, is completely to be respected to the way he wants to make his own announcement,” Mr Pesutto said.

Asked whether the Liberals could retain Warrandyte, Mr Pesutto said the party would “work really hard”.

“Whenever the by-election is held, we’re going to throw everything at it. We know how important it is to retain the seat and to work very hard towards that end.”

Asked whether he wanted to see a woman preselected, Mr Pesutto said he wanted to “work closely” with the Liberal Party.

“We know that we’ve got to get more women into the Victorian parliament, representing the Liberal Party. So I’ll be working, obviously, with the membership and the leadership of the organisational side of the party to make sure we choose the strongest local candidate who will give us the best chance of retaining the seat of Warrandyte,” he said.

Pesutto Address Media

Mr Pesutto said he expected the by-election to be held in mid to late August given Mr Smith plans to resign on July 7, but that the decision would ultimately be up to parliament’s presiding officers.

“These things shouldn’t be delayed too long, because the people of Warrandyte need a representative who’s on the ground, so we would expect that the presiding officers will call that for as soon as practicable,” he said.

Asked whether Mr Smith should have opted to resign ahead of the November election so as to save the Liberals and the voters of Warrandyte from a by-election, Mr Pesutto said: “These things happen.”

“People contest elections in the hope and expectation that we would win. He’s obviously reflected on what he wants to do going forward, and that’s to be respected, and I do pay tribute to Ryan’s contribution, but people are making these decisions constantly during the life of a parliament, and we just have to accept that’s part of the process,” he said.

Asked whether twice-defeated former opposition leader Matthew Guy should follow Mr Smith out the door, Mr Pesutto said resignations were “personal decisions”.

“Each member who’s in the parliament has a job to do, and I’ve already said that Matthew has a great contribution to make about his own future, so I’ll leave these matters to each and every member,” he said.

‘Smith held his seat when others didn’t’: Andrews

Mr Smith received praise from unexpected quarters, with Daniel Andrews noting that the MP had held his seat when many other Liberal MPs in Melbourne’s east had not.

The Premier said the issue of who would contest Warrandyte for Labor was “a matter for the Labor Party”.

“What I’m keen to do is to get on and deliver on all the election commitments that we put forward at the election last year,” Mr Andrews said.

PREMIER DAN ANDREWS

“I wasn’t aware of Mr Smith‘s decision. It’s a great opportunity and a great honour and a great privilege to represent the community that you live in, the community that you’re passionate about. I wish him and his family well.”

Asked whether he would miss Mr Smith in parliament, given the Warrandyte MP is often the subject of the Premier’s sledging during Question Time, Mr Andrews quipped: “He’s quite often not in the parliament. He’s more often got ejected.”

“I don’t know Ryan particularly well, but what I would say is to be your local community’s voice is an enormous privilege, and I think he’s worked very hard, and when others lost their seats out east, he held onto his, and that means something, it means he works hard, and I would wish him all the very best and of course his family as well,” he said.