Who’s a conservative? Battin opens up on abortion, tax and past votes on key issues

Brad Battin has been state opposition leader for less than a fortnight, and the Labor government has already issued no fewer than four press releases painting him as an extreme conservative.

But if there’s one thing the self-styled “bogan from Berwick” wants you to know about him, it’s that he doesn’t hail from the party’s more conservative wing, even if he undeniably relied on the faction’s support while ousting his predecessor John Pesutto.

During his first sit-down interview following his frontbench reshuffle, Battin rejected any assertion that his party had lurched to the right. He said he had no plans to water down Victorians’ abortion rights and that he was happy to attend Melbourne’s Pride March. He reiterated his belief that children don’t belong in prison.

Battin named former prime minister John Howard as one of his political heroes and said Victoria needed to have an “adult discussion” about federal Opposition Leader Peter Dutton’s plans for small-scale nuclear reactors in places like the Latrobe Valley. This represents a marginally stronger pro-nuclear stance than Pesutto’s “agnostic” position.

Opposition Leader Brad Battin says people are looking for change. Credit: Wayne Taylor

“There is zero evidence of the fact of me being a conservative,” Battin said on Wednesday.

“I have two daughters. Myself and my wife have raised them to be hardworking young people. The reality is, my focus is families, singles, people renting, housing, cost of living, crime. People are looking for a genuine change.”

Wednesday’s sit-down interview was conducted with Battin’s one-time challenger Jess Wilson.Credit: Wayne Taylor

In a sign of collegiality, Battin’s sit-down interview was conducted alongside Coalition education and industry spokeswoman Jess Wilson, his one-time challenger. They made small talk, laughed and agreed to be photographed together.

The only thing Wilson refused to do was stand in front of a flag of Battin’s beloved Geelong Football Club. Wilson, the member for Kew, is a Collingwood supporter.

A moderate, she was touted as a potential deputy to Battin by his supporters ahead of the leadership vote in late December. But as The Age reported last week, neither initially wanted to play second fiddle and both ended up contesting the leadership.

Battin, a former police officer and Bakers Delight owner who has served in parliament for almost 15 years, said his Liberal values were reward for effort and equal opportunity.

Asked how that squared with him voting against a 2015 bill that gave Victorian same-sex couples the right to adopt – or voluntary assisted dying a few years later – he said it was easy to look at one or two votes and say, “here’s a person who is a conservative”.

In the case of voluntary assisted dying, he said his speech was ultimately supportive of people’s right to choose to end their lives should they be diagnosed with a painful terminal illness. However, he ultimately voted against the government’s bill because it was “poorly constructed”.

“You can’t just vote on legislation because it sounds good in the media, which is how Labor operates. It’s got to be put in carefully,” he said. “There were some parts in there that didn’t even explain the process of how it’s going to happen.”

Battin has said he wishes to follow in the footsteps of Queensland Liberal opposition leader-turned-premier David Crisafulli. However, in that state, Labor was able to run a campaign on the issue of abortion and arguably sandbag a number of seats after it took Crisafulli some time to emphatically rule out changes to the law.

‘There is zero evidence of the fact of me being a conservative.’

Brad Battin

Closer to home, the Victorian Greens have argued that access to abortion should be enshrined in the state constitution to make it harder for future governments to wind back.

Battin stressed to The Age that no policy deals had been made to secure his elevation, whether on abortion or otherwise. As previously reported, some Liberals had been promised certain shadow cabinet positions for their support.

“There’s currently been no discussion about watering down, changing, amending abortion laws here in Victoria,” Battin said.

The opposition leader also said he would shore up Victoria’s debt plan while reducing the state’s overall tax burden within his first 100 days of office. Last year’s state budget forecast Victoria’s debt to rise to $187.8 billion by June 2028.

“Within the first 100 days, we know we’re going to have to be putting in place some of [our future plan] to deal with the budget and the crisis we have,” Battin said. “We can’t afford to keep going the direction it’s going.”

He declined to say which taxes were in the firing line or what his party’s economic plan would look like specifically, citing the need to do deep policy work in the lead-up to the next election.

Battin has previously pledged to tighten Victoria’s bail laws in his first month as premier should he win the November 2026 election. He has also vowed to scrap the State Electricity Commission and halt construction of the controversial Suburban Rail Loop should he become the state’s 50th premier – although he said he would not tear up existing contracts.

On housing, the opposition leader did not shy away from the fact that he had a complex task ahead of him in juggling those opposed to higher-density living in established suburbs with younger people who want to break into the housing market. He said he would flesh out a housing policy closer to the election.

As for how he would differentiate himself from his predecessor, Battin said his approach was two-pronged: be a proactive communicator internally, and externally put more focus on Melbourne’s growth suburbs. Before last month’s leadership spill, a Battin supporter told The Age that Pesutto had been too focused on his inner-suburb “bubble”.

During the sit-down interview, Jess Wilson – who was recently stripped of the finance portfolio but given industry – said there would be no white-anting of the new leader.

“It’s really normal in politics to have people put their hands up for the same role. Going forward, we have one task now, and that’s to make sure that we win government in 2026. I’ll do everything I can to support Brad and team,” she said.

Wilson says she is completely focused on the 2026 election.Credit: Wayne Taylor

Rather than being disappointed with women only making up 30 per cent of the new-look shadow cabinet, Wilson said she was hopeful there would one day be a 50-50 gender split not based on quotas, but merit, given the fresh faces being given shadow parliamentary secretary roles.

“We want to be a commonsense, responsible government that goes back to the very basics.”

It’s an aspiration that won’t come easily. To claw back power for the first time in a decade, the Liberals will need to fend off teal independents for the second consecutive election and win about 15 other seats.

So what is Battin’s message to people who have voted for Labor at the past few elections, or those weighing up whether to vote Liberal or teal?

“Over the next 689 days, judge me on my actions, on what we’re going to deliver for Victoria. I assure you, we’ll be working for all Victorians,” he said.

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