Latest news with #VictorianLiberal
The Age
2 days ago
- Politics
- The Age
Discipline out of school matter for the parents
Late yesterday, the Premier Jeremy Rockliff lost a no-confidence motion in parliament and was seeking a snap state election, Letters Ed Dinosaur in the room The Liberal Party's quest to annihilate itself goes on. It is not just at a national level, but, in Victoria and NSW, the destructive behaviour continues. Just when you thought dinosaurs were extinct, up pops Victorian Liberal, and former state treasurer Alan Stockdale endeavouring to leave his imprint on the NSW branch with the advice that quotas for women were not necessary and that 'no one cares about the Liberal Party' (CBD, 5/6). At a national level leader Sussan Ley has the unenviable task of trying to resuscitate a party that is yet to heed the message the electorate delivered at the election. The party elders either need to face the realities of modern life or exit the political world. Anne Lyon, Camberwell Oblivion beckons Alan Stockdale's suggestion on a NSW Liberal Women's Council Zoom that assertive women might necessitate reverse quotas for men exposes a party dictated by octogenarian white men, hopelessly out of touch. Sussan Ley's call for assertive women to join is admirable but futile against a culture that marginalises them. The Liberals' 'women problem' with unwinnable candidacies and policies like banning work-from-home arrangements drove their May election rout. The Liberal Party is past its use-by date, stuck in a bygone era. Women seeking progress, agency and leadership can turn to Labor, the Greens, or the dynamic community independents model, where grassroots voices champion equality and diversity. Why join a party where elderly men dictate direction and flinch at women's assertiveness? Whether the Liberals can shed this outdated mindset and embrace alternatives reflecting today's diverse values will dictate their future. So far, it looks like they're doomed to fade into oblivion. Sue Barrett, Caulfield South Empathy imbalance A ″Freedom boat″ is sailing to Gaza with aid and is receiving media publicity worldwide. Could such boats be launched to Sudan? It is the world's worst humanitarian crisis right now: 13 million displaced; a severe famine and up to 150,000 people killed. Do the Sudanese matter? Or are some humanitarian crises more important than others? Pia Brous, Armadale In aid of defence Australia's continuing foreign aid programs are still our most effective defence. Graeme Macmillan, Blackburn Sense of betrayal Who needs a strong opposition when the Labor Party has a strong right faction? There has been the removal of two perfectly fine ministers, the deputy prime minister open to the US administration's calls on defence spending and the 40-year extension of Woodside's gas project, well in excess of Australia's zero emissions target by 2050. Sure, gas to support the transition to renewables, but not extra gas to continue exorbitant offshore exports. I imagine Labor voters are feeling betrayed, angry and disillusioned. Is it a naive hope that the defection of Senator Dorinda Cox will somehow bring the Labor Party more left? The mandate adhered to should be first and foremost, protection of the environment. Bronwyn Davis, Kennington The past in the present The double tragedy of the Labor government's early squandering of the massive political capital it was given 'in one awful decision' (ie extension of Woodside Energy's North West Shelf gas tenure) and the harm already done to Murujuga rock art that predates the building of the Egyptian pyramids – because of the former – is sorrowful (' In one awful decision, Albanese has revealed his do-nothing plan ', 4/6). Indeed, it would be incomprehensible to the French as it would be to the British to allow companies to ″screw around' with their nation's respective monumental legacies in the implicit understanding that it is a cornerstone testament to their cultural identity. Perhaps herein lies the rub. That is, our nation's unreconciled history and successive leadership's failure to unite our country whereby, unjustly, First Nations Australians continue to bear the collateral damage in the present time of our nation's brutal and bloody antecedents. Jelena Rosic, Mornington Promises broken As usual, Ross Gittins nails it (4/6). Anthony Albanese fooled enough people into believing his promises to act on climate change. I lost faith in Labor on this issue long ago, and am sure many more will over the approval of further drilling on the North West Shelf. Of course, he may say that it was Minister Murray Watt's decision, but it was, as Gittins points out, at the behest of the big mining companies through the Western Australian premier. And Albanese just waited until after the election to let us all in on the news. I don't want to see Albanese sympathetically nodding and handshaking with victims of extreme weather events any longer. It is hypocritical in the extreme to promise to help people who have lost lives, homes and livelihoods through natural disasters, which are no longer ″natural″ but extremely worsened by rapidly worsening climate change. Kerry Echberg, Princes Hill Bin there, too hard The article ″ Too hard to build ″ (3/6) referenced the delays and red tape involved in building developments. Specifically it cited North Sydney council taking 41 days just to lodge a planning application on their system. It's meant to take 14. Last week I applied to upsize my garden waste bin on Darebin Council's website. The reply? Up to 21 business days for the bin change. That's a calendar month. Peter Harris, Preston Moving lines Reading the articles by Nicola Redhouse and Daniel Rabin (Comments, 31/5), each looking at the present situation differently, makes me wonder why we seem to have forgotten that statehood within fixed boundaries is both modern and temporary. Throughout the last several millennia, people mostly lived in language-cultural-ethnic groups in different parts of the world, overlapping with each other. Many present countries, e.g. India, Italy and Germany, are very recent constructs brought about by their constituent kingdoms, sultanates and so on being forcefully brought together by powerful leaders. Most of the world has been run by empires formed by one entity conquering neighbouring ones, with their boundaries continually fluctuating. Neither the Israelites nor the Palestinians ever had a ″state″ as such – they just lived in the same area of the world with much overlap in where their people lived. The European Zionists had the idea of a ″national home″ for Jews, with few Palestinians in it, and were successful in getting the British government to create it for them. It's easy to see why Palestinians resent their treatment and want to return to their land and have it recognised in the same way Israelis are recognised for theirs. It seems to me that the creation of a Palestinian state alongside Israel is the only just solution. Don Jordan, Mount Waverley Protect the trees When we bought our home 30 years ago, it was surrounded by trees outside our boundary, providing complete privacy (″ All the leaves are brown, and the neighbours are warring ″, 4/6). Over time, all were removed except one majestic gum tree just beyond our back fence. Its canopy, mostly over our side, attracts lorikeets, wattlebirds, magpies, noisy miners, nesting crows ,possums and fruit bats – I love it. Seven years ago, the neighbouring property was sold and redeveloped into a two-storey home nine metres from our fence. After demolition, I found an arborist on my shed roof quoting to remove the gumtree. In Bentleigh East, owner-occupiers can mostly remove trees without restriction. I messaged the new owner, offering my architect wife's help to design around the tree, which is the only visual barrier between our yards, but received no response. The tree was eventually protected after correspondence with the council and planning consultants. The new owner pruned his side harshly. Fortunately, it's now fuller on our side, still providing privacy and attracting beautiful wildlife. More protection should be afforded to our native trees and the ecosystems they support. Russell Brims, Bentleigh East Opportunity missed Sad to hear Donald Trump and Elon Musk have fallen out. I was hoping Musk would put Trump on his first passenger flight to Mars. Ron Mather, Melbourne AND ANOTHER THING Politics More of the same from the opposition (″Coalition shuts down hope of super tax deal″, 5/6). Phillip Ross, Somerville For the Coalition, the only good tax is no tax. Bernd Rieve, Brighton Sticking to the plan of former opposition leader Peter Dutton of saying no to everything will guarantee the Coalition plenty of years in opposition. Pete Garfield, Echuca How long before Labor has ″buyer's remorse″ with Dorinda Cox? Tom Stafford, Wheelers Hill Literally Before lamenting lost adverbs, shouldn't we first mourn the subjunctive? If only it were still widely used. Mark Summerfield, Northcote I agree that it is useless trying to set English in concrete (Letters, 5/6). The headline on page 5 of The Age (5/6) ″We are treating it wrong″ shows that the adverb is already buried. Sandra Torpey, Hawthorn Furthermore A friend usually requests or suggests. A bully demands. We now know where US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth fits. And as for confidential defence discussions – forget it. Arthur Pritchard, Ascot Vale Your correspondent (Letters, 3/6) says that Anthony Albanese should stick to his guns after the US defence secretary suggested an increase in defence spending for Australia. Surely he meant to say he should stick to his subs? Alan Inchley, Frankston Will Elon Musk now put his billions behind Rand Paul (″Musk puts political clout to the test″, 4/6)? Marie Nash, Balwyn
Sky News AU
4 days ago
- Politics
- Sky News AU
Jeff Kennett begs Victorian Liberal Party to pay Pesutto's $2.3 million owing to Moira Deeming
Institute of Public Affairs Daniel Wild says it has been a 'disaster' for the Victorian Liberal Party following Victorian Liberal leader John Pesutto being ordered to pay $2.3 million in costs for a defamation case. This comes after former Victorian premier Jeff Kennett asked the Victorian Liberal Party's Administrative Committee to pay the entirety of the $2.3 million debt he owes Liberal MP Moira Deeming. 'The Liberal party was founded on the freedom of speech, which was what Moira was exercising,' Mr Wild told Sky News host Rita Panahi. 'They need to draw a line under this and try to get clear air as they get to the next election.'
Sky News AU
20-05-2025
- Business
- Sky News AU
Climate 200 founder Simon Holmes à Court reveals shock donation to former Victorian Liberal leader John Pesutto
Climate 200 founder Simon Holmes à Court has made a shock donation towards helping former Victorian Liberal leader John Pesutto and his family. The son of Australian billionaire Robert Holmes à Court had ditched supporting the Liberal Party after falling out with former party deputy leader Josh Frydenberg. He went on to set up Climate 200, a major backer of Teal independents in the 2022 and 2025 federal elections. The funding was pivotal in getting MPs such as Kooyong MP Monique Ryan, Wentworth MP Allegra Spender and now defeated MP for Goldstein Zoe Daniel. However, it has now been revealed Mr Holmes à Court has donated to a GoFundMe page set up to help former Victorian Liberal leader John Pesutto cover legal costs after Mr Pesutto lost an expensive defamation case to Victorian Liberal MP Moira Deeming. A $500 donation has been paid in Mr Holmes à Court's name, and he has since confirmed to The Age that the donation is legitimate. 'It's unconscionable that entities associated with the Victorian Liberals – with investments approaching $200 million — are prepared to leave John and his family destitute, especially when he was acting as the leader of the party and with the full support of the leadership team,' Mr Holmes à Court told the masthead. 'Good luck attracting talent to join the party after this debacle.' Mr Pesutto has been ordered to pay $2.3 million following the long-running defamation case brought on by Ms Deeming. The huge sum imposed by the Federal Court on Friday risks tipping the former Victorian Liberal leader into bankruptcy, potentially leading him to lose a seat in the state's parliament. Bankrupt citizens are not allowed to sit in state parliament, meaning a by-election in his Melbourne seat of Hawthorn will need to be held if bankruptcy is declared. It is understood Mr Pesutto is seeking loans from Liberal powerbrokers and has already received financial gifts from Liberal Victorian premiers Ted Baillieu, Jeff Kennett and Denis Napthine, among others. Mr Pesutto released a public statement following the court decision that said he was 'determined" to continue serving Hawthorn. ''Whilst I am taking time to review today's Court decision with family and advisers, I reiterate that I am determined to continue serving the people of my electorate of Hawthorn and the people of Victoria for as long as they will have me," the statement said. "I am grateful for the support I am receiving from the community and am hopeful with this support that I will be able to fulfill these obligations and continue serving the people of Victoria." The GoFundMe campaign set up for him by genuine supporters has so far raised more than $135,000 and received 390 donations. A fake fundraising page has also been set up, which has Mr Pesutto has called "deplorable". "To have people who are creating a false account and falsely representing something to be from me when it's not, I think that's deplorable and I've asked the party to keep an eye out on who may be involved in that," Mr Pesutto told the ABC.
The Guardian
14-04-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Victoria's Liberal leader is counting the days to the election. But will ‘brand Brad' pass the pub test?
It's 2.30pm on a Wednesday in Melbourne's CBD and Victoria's opposition leader, Brad Battin, is nursing a Guinness in a corner booth of the Elephant and Wheelbarrow. 'Should I split the G?' he says, referring to the pub game of drinking down to the horizontal line in the Guinness logo. 'It's actually a lot to drink, so I probably shouldn't.' This is the setting Battin has chosen for our interview – one of his 'favourites' from his days as a police officer and reputedly where he and a handful of loyal MPs gather after parliamentary sitting days. It's all part of 'brand Brad'. While his new suits might be sharply tailored, the image he's trying to sell to voters is deliberately rough around the edges, plain speaking and in tune with his outer suburban electorate of Berwick. 'I go to the pub and I do the pub test,' Battin says. 'And when I say the pub test, I mean I literally go and ask people about a whole range of issues.' He'll head to the Berwick Springs hotel to speak to families and 'the Cardi' – local nickname for the Cardinia hotel – to check the mood among tradies. 'I'll buy a few beers, sit down and talk,' he says. With Jacinta Allan's popularity tanking and the long-dominant Labor government beginning to look vulnerable, attention is slowly shifting to the man who hopes to take her place as premier. Battin landed the job in December, becoming the fourth leader of the Victorian Liberal party in four years and replacing the Hawthorn MP, John Pesutto. It was his third tilt at the job and marked the end of a bitter internal campaign waged by supporters of the MP Moira Deeming, whom Pesutto expelled from the party room in 2023. Battin aligned himself with the party's staunch conservative wing, including the Western Victoria MP, Bev McArthur, a key Deeming ally who was subsequently promoted to the shadow cabinet. Deeming herself was also returned to the party room. The messy affair led Labor to describe Battin's victory as a 'hostile rightwing takeover of the Victorian Liberal party', a label Battin says 'doesn't fit'. Sign up for the Afternoon Update: Election 2025 email newsletter Battin describes himself as an atheist and rejects that he's a conservative, saying instead that he's 'common sense'. He has repeatedly ruled out any changes to Victoria's abortion laws or its ban on gay conversion therapy. He's tough on crime but also backed raising the age of criminal responsibility. He supports justice reinvestment and alternatives to incarceration but also tougher sentences for serious offenders. He wants to reform the education system, but steers clear of arguments favoured by his federal colleagues about 'indoctrination' in schools, instead arguing for more options for students who 'aren't suited' to the academic track of finishing year 12, and introducing classes on financial literacy. 'I don't really sit anywhere … I feel like left and right is just irrelevant,' he says. Even as the state's crime rate climbs, he stands by his calls for sweeping reforms to the justice system that would see fewer people in custody. 'We've got to stop locking people up that we're mad at and start locking people up we are afraid of,' Battin says. 'If you make that shift – the entire justice system will change for the better.' He's previously argued against jail time for low-level and white collar crimes, a view that has the support of strange bedfellows the Institute of Public Affairs and the Animal Justice party MP Georgie Purcell, with whom he's developed a cordial working relationship. With no consultation from the premier's office, the crossbencher says she's had 'no choice but to reach across the aisle' – and while they don't always agree, Battin has an 'open door'. Recently, she helped him with an injured turtle. They also talk tattoos. 'It's not often that a Liberal leader is more progressive on a social issue,' Purcell says. Battin's education policies become more clear when you learn his background: he went to local public schools, dropped out at 15 and worked a string of jobs in retail, customer service and corrections before joining Victoria police, rising to senior constable. Politics wasn't discussed at home. 'There was no politics, no religion at our dinner table,' Battin says. His mum ran the canteen at the Heinz factory in Dandenong, his dad worked in car sales before moving into insurance and then international development. It's a biography more commonly seen on the other side of the aisle. A career in politics was not a consideration until a conversation with the then upper house MP Gordon Rich-Phillips, a childhood friend, in the early 2000s. He joined the Liberal party in 2007 and was preselected for and then won the seat of Gembrook in 2010. He kept a relatively low profile until 2017, when he shot into the headlines during Victoria's fire services dispute for wrongly claiming that no professional firefighters had responded to the Black Saturday bushfires for the first five-and-a-half hours. The backlash was swift. 'You've got to cut through the bullshit sometimes … and admit you've got it wrong,' he says. More recently, he faced criticism for speaking at a rally attended by neo-Nazis (he left when he became aware), for his all-male leadership team, and for taking a cruise while the Labor government announced new bail laws, instead claiming he was visiting his cyclone-affected parents (he did visit his parents for one day after the four-day cruise). He admits he should have been more up front about the cruise, which was for a friend's 50th, but says he spent most of it on the phone. 'I wasn't out drinking margaritas all day.' The incident led to some rumbling within the party room, but Battin insists they're united and have created an environment where everyone 'can speak up'. 'Not everyone's going to be best friends,' he says. 'But you can be professional.' Battin is less forthcoming about his federal colleagues, particularly during an election campaign. He does, however, reveal a conversation with the opposition leader, Peter Dutton, about the 'language' he would use when discussing the federal plan to build a nuclear reactor in the Latrobe Valley, and made it clear the state party was focused on boosting gas supply. So far, his presence alongside Dutton has been limited to one photo opportunity at a petrol station in Caulfield to promote the proposed halving of the fuel excise. He missed the press conference announcing a joint $3bn for Melbourne airport rail, where Dutton also committed to divert $2.2bn in federal funds from the Suburban Rail Loop, citing parliament commitments, but tells Guardian Australia his position on the project is more circumspect. 'I want the project cancelled today, but when we get to the election … and they say you've got to pay out $10bn and get nothing for it, that's irresponsible, and I can't do that,' he says. 'If there's an exit clause and it costs us next to nothing – and we can reinvest that money elsewhere – I'm doing that.' Despite earlier leaning on their shared police background, Battin appears keen to differentiate himself from Dutton. 'We've also got a lot of differences. I've grown up differently to Peter did,' Battin says. 'I had challenges that Peter may not have had and I think that changes who you are.' Dutton is less popular in Victoria than in other states, and some of his remarks, such as his 2018 comments blaming 'African gangs' for trapping scared Melburnians in their homes, have blown back on the state Liberal party. Asked about those comments, Battin says he 'won't judge others' for past remarks but claims he 'never' used the term himself and was 'very cautious' about placing blame on the African community for the actions of individuals. 'I don't believe that was the reason they were in a gang,' he says. 'I'm more of the Les Twentyman style, I'd go out there and engage and try to find ways to fix it rather than finger point.' Once the federal election is over, Battin plans to focus on new policies, including on housing. He recently sold his investment property to his tenant and says such transactions should be incentivised with lower taxes. 'To me, it's the ultimate outcome,' Battin says. 'Shouldn't we encourage that?' He also wants a review of all housing-related taxes, including stamp duty, and is open to the federal government looking at negative gearing – with caution. 'If you take it away too quickly, or you change it, you're going to cause massive issues through a rental market already under pressure,' Battin says. The Liberal party, he adds, needs to decide who it's backing when it comes to housing. 'The people I support the most … are a generation that wants to have a go and get the opportunities without being in competition with, effectively, people that can just outbid them,' he says. Ultimately, though, the biggest issue, by Battin's 'pub test', remains crime. He's pushing for more proactive patrols and investment in crime prevention – 'practical, commonsense measures' such as the Coalition's 2010 promise to recruit 900 protective services officers to patrol Melbourne's railway stations every night. It was widely credited at the time with winning Ted Baillieu the election. Though a very different leader to Baillieu, Battin shares the same goal: to convince Victorians it's time for a change. 'We've got 599 days to go. Not that I'm counting,' he says.
