New Liberal leader bats away factional frontbench fear
Callum Godde |
A new state Liberal leader has refused to guarantee her debut shadow cabinet will be picked on merit rather than “factional alignments”.
Jess Wilson is trying to put the pieces of the Victorian Liberals back together after leader Brad Battin was unceremoniously ousted less than 11 months into his tenure.
The Kew MP’s first test as leader will be deciding who is in and out of shadow cabinet and the allocation of portfolios, former Liberal premier Jeff Kennett said.
“Her success or otherwise will depend on the ability of the party to now show a discipline they’ve not shown in a decade,” he told AAP.
“That will be represented through the appointment of her shadow cabinet.”
Mr Kennett said Mr Battin and John Pesutto got the party back to an election-winning position but were “destroyed fundamentally by the factions”.
It left Ms Wilson with “one hell of a challenge” working with people who destroyed her predecessors and would be expecting senior shadow cabinet appointments, he said.
Mr Kennett, who led Victoria from 1992 to 1999 after two stints as opposition leader, said there were people within the factions who he “wouldn’t feed”.
“That’s headed by Bev McArthur from the western district, who has been instrumental for some time now in pulling down every leader of the party,” the former premier said.
“She is not part of the future and she is now leader of the upper house, so Jess has got to make a decision in the interests of the state, not based on the factional alignments.
“Her real challenge will not be those on the other side of the house, they’ll be within her own ranks.”
In a statement issued on Wednesday, Ms McArthur said she and Ms Wilson were elected to their roles “on merit, not quotas”.
“I firmly believe that in 2026 she will become the first woman ever elected premier of this state,” she said.
Ms Wilson would not be drawn when repeatedly asked whether she could assure Mr Kennett the make up of her front bench would be merit-based.
“I’ll be having lots of conversations with my colleagues,” she told reporters at state parliament on Thursday.
Those conversations will conclude “not too far into the future”, she said.
Mr Kennett argued Mr Battin, Mr Pesutto and fellow former leader Matthew Guy, as well as opposition health spokeswoman Georgie Crozier, should be recognised in her team.
Ms Crozier, a former nurse and midwife, said she wanted to remain shadow health minister and Labor were “running scared” following Ms Wilson’s elevation.
“They’ve got the attack lines running after her already,” she said.
“Jess is doing a magnificent job, and she’ll continue to lead us into the next election and turn the state around.”
The mother of one will appeal to other young mums and millennials by just being herself, Mr Kennett said, but he acknowledged she faced a steep learning curve in the role.
“Jess is young to the parliament and has a lot to learn,” Mr Kennett said.
“I don’t think she has any idea of what being leader of the opposition requires in terms of time commitment … it was 24/7, seven days a week until we finally won in 1992.”
Premier Jacinta Allan said Mr Kennett’s comments told voters all they needed to know about the modern-day Liberal Party.
“If former Liberal premiers can’t trust the Liberal party room, neither can Victorians,” she said.
The Victorian Liberals have been out of government for all but four years this century and haven’t tasted power since 2014.
The coalition has a mountain to climb for the November 2026 state election, needing a net gain of at least 16 seats to form majority government.
AAP
