Experience attack as Liberal draws line on dysfunction
Callum Godde |
A fresh-faced state Liberal leader has come under immediate attack, with political opponents calling her “breathtakingly inexperienced”.
Jess Wilson, 35, capped a meteoric rise through the ranks of the Victorian Liberals on Tuesday, replacing Brad Battin as opposition leader after a coup.
With the state election a year away, the first-term MP has gone on a media blitz to sell her vision and smooth over the dysfunction that resulted in three state Liberal leaders coming and going in the last 11 months.
Ms Wilson continued her refusal to say why Mr Battin lost the support of the party room but vowed the revolving door of leadership was over.
“I’m drawing a line in the sand,” she told ABC Radio on Wednesday morning.
Mr Battin denied the party was too focused on crime under his stewardship but conceded there were probably many reasons he was rolled.
“Obviously internally we’ve had some challenges there and I made some changes people weren’t happy with,” he said.
“We need to make sure the focus for us is for not just crime but other areas and other portfolios.”
After a “big night”, the Berwick MP said Ms Wilson was in a great position to win the next election, expected on November 28, 2026.
“On the 29th of November, I hope to wake up with this hangover for a good reason,” Mr Battin told reporters at state parliament.
Ms Wilson is viewed as a more electorally potent challenger to Labor, led by Premier Jacinta Allan.
Retiring Liberal MP Kim Wells, who was treasurer under Liberal premier Ted Baillieu, conceded the optics of three leadership changes in 11 months were “not that great”.
But he was confident the coup would end the party’s unceasing internal strife as the new leadership team offered a cross-factional mix.
“That will add a certain amount of stability to what’s going on moving forward now focusing on a whole range of issues, not just law and order,” Mr Wells said.
Ms Wilson, deputy Sam Groth and upper house deputy Evan Mulholland have all been in parliament for less than three years, while upper house leader Bev McArthur was elected in 2018.
Mr Wells argued the group offered generational change.
“These are very smart people,” he said.
Minister Steve Dimopoulos, wheeled out to be Labor’s attack dog in chief, scoffed at a claim from former opposition leader Michael O’Brien that Ms Wilson was the premier’s “worst nightmare”.
He described Ms Wilson as “breathtakingly inexperienced” and pointed out it took the Victorian Liberals three decades longer than Labor to elevate a woman to its highest post.
“I didn’t have the golden parachute to the London School of Economics and to Josh Frydenberg’s office,” Mr Dimopoulos said of the latest Liberal leader.
Ms Allan suggested Ms Wilson’s refusal to explain why “she’s knifed her leader” demonstrated the community could not trust her to be up front and transparent.
The Victorian coalition must net at least 16 extra seats in the 88-seat parliament to form majority government after spending all but four years out of office since the turn of the century.
AAP
