Latest news with #VictorianLiberals
AU Financial Review
11 hours ago
- Politics
- AU Financial Review
Victorian Liberals' email fighting helps Jacinta Allan
For the first time in a long time (just under three weeks), the Victorian Liberals had been keeping schtum on their bitter infighting. The MPs were finally focused on turning their blowtorches onto Jacinta Allan 's government instead. That is, until the party's Victorian branch president and former MP Phil Davis lobbed an email to all members at 3pm on Monday. It complained of the 'internal disputation and arguments, which are so often reported in the media, creating the public perception of disunity'.
AU Financial Review
04-08-2025
- Business
- AU Financial Review
Jacinta Allan's WFH laws are a political stunt, not good policy
It's impossible not to be cynical about the Victorian government's most significant incursion into federal workplace regulation in decades. Premier Jacinta Allan's plan to enshrine remote working arrangements into law for Victorian public servants and private sector employees is a focus group-driven, politically populist stunt rather than sound public policy. It's a wedge against the Victorian Liberals, still bruised by Peter Dutton's ruinous federal election proposal to drag public servants back into the office full-time. Clearly, Allan is front running a scare campaign that feeds on anxieties about losing the freedoms afforded by flexible and hybrid work arrangements that are very popular among many people. Drawing on the classic Labor playbook, she accused employers of clinging to control and outdated ways of working, while extolling the policy's ability to save working people and families time and money and 'make good workers more productive'.
SBS Australia
19-06-2025
- Business
- SBS Australia
Moira Deeming, John Pesutto urged to 'smell the roses' after party grants bankruptcy bailout
A $1.5 million loan has been granted to former Victorian Liberal leader John Pesutto, with the fractured party desperate to draw a line under a long-running defamation saga. The Victorian Liberals' administrative committee met on Thursday night and agreed to lend former leader John Pesutto $1.55 million to settle his debt to first-term MP Moira Deeming. The Hawthorn MP was ordered to pay $2.3 million in legal costs to Deeming after the Federal Court found he defamed her by implying she was associated with neo-Nazis. Pesutto, who has already coughed up $315,000 in damages, had only raised about $750,000 through wealthy backers and a GoFundMe campaign. An offer to defer some of the legal bill in exchange for Deeming's guaranteed preselection and Pesutto swearing off trying to return as leader for three years was rebuffed. In a letter to party members on late on Thursday, Victorian Liberal president Philip Davis said the money would be paid directly to Deeming. Pesutto will be required to repay the loan at market-rate interest. Davis said the deal would avert a by-election and allow the Liberals' parliamentary party to focus the issues that matter to the Victorian community. Entering parliament on Thursday morning, Pesutto was upbeat about the committee agreeing to his loan request. "Tonight's an opportunity to square (the issue) off and put it all behind us," he said. Deeming, who was expelled from the party room before being welcomed back in December, was sceptical it would end the infighting that has engulfed the party since March 2023. "I assume that they will continue with their quest to try to annihilate me," the upper house MP said. Deeming said the party could "do what they like" but she would take any support of Pesutto as a "direct rebukement (sic)" of the court judgement. Opposition leader Brad Battin attended Thursday night's meeting but would not reveal to reporters how he planned to vote. Battin urged Deeming and Pesutto to "smell the roses" if either woke up on Friday morning unhappy with the outcome. Time is running out for Battin to unite the Liberals before the next state election in November 2026.
ABC News
07-06-2025
- Politics
- ABC News
As John Pesutto faces bankruptcy, the Victorian Liberals struggle to unite
So much of politics is the art of compromise. It's an art form the Victorian Liberals seem unwilling, or unable, to practice as the party once again rips itself apart over the fate of former leader John Pesutto. Unless Mr Pesutto can stump up $2.3 million in the coming weeks, he'll be bankrupted and expelled from state parliament, after he was successfully sued for defamation by his colleague Moira Deeming. On Friday, Mr Pesutto was served an official bankruptcy notice, giving him a 21-day deadline to come up with the money. The Hawthorn MP is desperately trying to raise the money and secure a loan. A proposal for the party to provide that loan still hasn't been landed and is proving a new lightning rod for division and anger. But Mr Pesutto's very public demise is about much more than his defamation defeat — it is about control of the heart of the party. At its core, this contest is about the ideological direction of the Victorian Liberals and is the culmination of years of internal infighting. It's about whether the Liberals are still a "broad church", a term so often used to describe the party. The ABC has spoken to more than a dozen Liberal MPs past and present as well as party figures, who wished to speak anonymously to frankly discuss the state of the party. None, from either side of a widening factional divide, say the opposition is presenting itself as a credible alternative government, despite myriad challenges facing Victorians. The state party room is characterised by personal animus, a focus on petty internal disputes and a desperation to control the party. "It's all about promoting self above the party and the values it can bring to the state or country." After more than a decade in opposition, some Liberals believe MPs are gripped by "institutional opposition", where the only mission goal is internal control. In a sign of just how widespread the rancour is, MPs loyal to both Mr Pesutto and Ms Deeming described the other as a "terrorist" intent on damaging the party just to get their way. Those supporting Ms Deeming think Mr Pesutto should take his medicine and leave parliament if he cannot pay the money. While those behind Mr Pesutto, including former Premier Jeff Kennett, say the party must support a man who was acting in his capacity as leader. "Can you imagine the Labor Party allowing one of their own to be bankrupted,'' Mr Kennett recently wrote to the party's powerful administrative committee, who may decide on a loan for Mr Pesutto. "There are only two questions you need to answer. What is in the best interests of the party? What must we do to give ourselves any chance of winning the state election?" The saga started in early 2023. Ms Pesutto tried to expel Ms Deeming, an outspoken first-term MP, over her attendance at an anti-trans-rights rally. The event, entitled Let Women Speak and categorised by supporters as a women's rights event, was gatecrashed by neo-Nazis. But Mr Pesutto's expulsion attempts backfired, and a court ultimately found he had defamed Ms Deeming on multiple occasions by conveying that she associated with neo-Nazis. In suing Mr Pesutto, Ms Deeming threw out the rule book and disrupted the status quo. "They want someone like me to quit,'' Ms Deeming said in a recent online interview with Club Grubbery, a website started to "provide a voice for all those adversely impacted by the COVID madness". Both Ms Deeming and Mr Pesutto declined to be interviewed for this story. Even with the emphatic court win — $315,000 in damages and $2.3 million in legal costs — Ms Deeming wants total victory. She recently said she had "no idea" why Mr Pesutto remained a Liberal party member. It's a view shared by loud voices outside the state party room, as well as some within. "He tried to silence a woman — don't we already have a problem with women voters?" another said. Mr Pesutto won Hawthorn by 1,500 votes at the 2022 election, returning to parliament after losing his once safe seat to Labor in 2018. The threat now comes from teal independents — Hawthorn sits within the federal seat of Kooyong and the area is one of the strongest for federal MP Monique Ryan. "We can't have a by-election, if we do, we'll get smashed, then we lose all momentum for 2026,'' a senior, despairing, Liberal said. At the heart of this problem is a culture where the Victorian Liberal Party, and many who represent it, are more concerned with internal victories than representing the people. Ms Deeming doesn't like the current direction of the party. She says it has "crashed into the rocks". She wants the party to be more conservative and supports recruiting people that share her views into the party to steer its direction. "We need to take back ownership of the party of the centre right,'' Ms Deeming told Club Grubbery. "We have to get really mercenary about [it], we have to get completely brutal." It's this sort of rhetoric that angers, and frightens, other Liberals — especially from the moderate side who have been railing against a "lurch for the right" for more than a decade. There have been well-publicised efforts and allegations of branch stacking, with operatives targeting Mormon groups and other conservative Christian groups for Liberal membership. In recent times, members of micro-conservative parties who have run for parliament have tried to join the Victorian Liberal Party. Political experts, strategists and indeed some within the Liberal Party know this sort of conservative politics does not wash well with Victorian voters. It is part of the reason Mr Pesutto tried to remove Ms Deeming from the party room. He wanted to assure Victorians his party would not get caught up in culture wars. In a recent interview with the ABC, Mr Pesutto didn't back down. "I was determined, and I remain so now, that I want the Liberal Party to be, and to be seen to be, a party that is broad-based, mainstream, inclusive and can appeal to all Victorians — no matter who you are, whether you own a home or you rent, regardless of how you identify,'' he said. Moira Deeming entered parliament after the 2022 state election following a controversial preselection. Ironically, she won support of moderates in the party as part of a factional war with the other local candidate, one not based on any sort of ideology. As a local councillor, Ms Deeming had pushed back against transgender people accessing women's toilets and playing women's sport, an issue she does not retreat from. When Scott Morrison was prime minister, his office intervened in Victoria to ensure that Ms Deeming was not preselected for a federal seat in 2022 because her views were too distracting from the federal campaign. "Women and girls are suffering in Victoria because this government cannot or will not define what a female is, and as a result every woman and every girl in Victoria has lost the right to enjoy female-only sports, female-only change rooms and countless other female-only activities,'' Ms Deeming said in her first speech to parliament, naming the issue as a priority. It angered several MPs who wanted the opposition to focus on toppling the Labor government. So when Ms Deeming helped organise the Let Women Speak rally on the steps of state parliament, Mr Pesutto pounced. Mr Pesutto had miscalculated how many people within the party shared Ms Deeming's concerns about trans rights. It has cost him dearly. Ms Deeming has found support far and wide within Liberal circles, including from high profile figures such as Peta Credlin, the former chief of staff to Prime Minister Tony Abbott turned Sky News host. Hilton Grugeon, a successful property developer from NSW, also came to her aid and bankrolled her legal case. It's the multi-million dollar loan from him that is causing so much pain for the Victorian Liberals. The saga has taken an incredible personal toll on both MPs. Ms Deeming has often spoken about the trauma it has caused her and her family. Her supporters reluctantly admit that Mr Pesutto and his backers have done well to paint Mr Pesutto as the victim in this sorry episode. But they remain unwavering in the direction the party must take. Since 1982, the Liberal Party has won just two out of 12 elections from opposition, and was returned only once in 1996 under Jeff Kennett. Neither Mr Kennett, who won in 1992, nor Ted Baillieu, who won in 2010, were social conservatives. "The federal election showed that, despite the Liberals enjoying the significant advantage of the unpopular Allan Labor government, Victorians are deeply sceptical of the party's brand in this state,'' Monash University politics professor Paul Strangio said. "The current saga will only reinforce the public's misgivings about the Liberals being a viable alternative governing party.'' Professor Strangio has been watching Victorian politics for decades, and holds grave fears for the Liberal party and what its dysfunction means for the state. Without robust competition for office, there is a risk of declining standards of government. "Victoria was the bedrock of the post-war Menzies-inspired Liberal Party. He insisted that the party's creed ought not to be in any way reactionary. Today that tradition has been effectively bankrupted," he said. "The party in Victoria has dying roots, is riven by philosophical and personality-based animosities, is short on talent and politically inept." Professor Strangio said there was a serious test for current Opposition Leader Brad Battin in this conflict — the new leader has remained tight-lipped on picking a side, provoking anger that he is not doing more to resolve the issue. "He looks like a bystander; he looks like he is washing his hands of a situation that effectively amounts to a proxy war over the direction of his party. It's not tenable for a leader to remain publicly mute in these circumstances,'' Professor Strangio said. "It raises the issue of what kind of premier he would make. How much authority would he actually wield over his party? Who is really in control?" Professor Strangio said the fascination with culture wars and the promotion of deeply socially conservative policies is a fundamental miscalculation by some Liberals. It puts them out of alignment with the sensibility of the majority of Victorians. Equally misguided is the idea that these types of concerns and attitudes resonate with outer suburban voters. "'These are demographically complex, socially and culturally-diverse communities. Aggressive conservatism doesn't speak to them, if anything, it alienates them," he said. Professor Strangio said with its record of chronic underperformance, there was a serious case for some form of federal intervention in the Victorian Liberal Party. But those in the party say an intervention is too difficult and that it would not solve the biggest issue — the personal hostility between state MPs. Finding a compromise is proving difficult. A GoFundMe for Mr Pesutto has raised $212,562 and has now been closed as he works to secure a loan to cover the costs. Other major donations are understood to have been committed privately. A plan has been cooked up for the Liberal party or one of its fundraising arms to provide a loan to him to cover the costs. At the time of writing, a proposal has not been put to the administrative committee who will decide. Mr Battin is a member of the panel along with elected volunteers from the membership. He's now understood to be supportive of some rescue package. Anything to avoid a messy by-election that could present questions for his leadership. There has been some reticence from the party to get involved. When Mr Pesutto first moved on Ms Deeming, the admin wing of the party was essentially told to butt out, as it was a matter for the party room. It's why there's some reluctance, and in some members, complete resistance to helping out Mr Pesutto. "He was pig-headed then, and now he wants our help,'' one senior figure said. The personal animosity is party-wide, not just confined to the MPs. Mr Battin did not create the mess but has to deal with it. It's distracting him from his work of trying to end 12 years in the political wilderness for the Victorian opposition. He wants it resolved and is quietly trying to do so, although publicly he is staying tight-lipped. Even if he can resolve this matter, the challenge remains to try and unify a fractured party room. If Mr Pesutto is bailed out by the party, it will only incense Ms Deeming and her group. But if Mr Pesutto is bankrupted, the party will be just as angry. And there is Ms Deeming's upper house preselection. Among the MPs and party figures canvassed for this story was a view that Ms Deeming would lose preselection for next year's election. If that occurs, you can bet the party infighting will ramp up again. And that will be even closer to polling day.
The Guardian
02-06-2025
- Business
- The Guardian
Morning Mail: Gina Rinehart's $400,000 Liberal fundraiser, official push to recognise rock art, Israel targets Gaza schools
Good morning. A dispute between the Victorian Liberals and an event organiser has revealed Australia's richest person Gina Rinehart helped raise almost $400,000 for the occasion. In other news, the government will meet with Unesco to lobby for 50,000-years-old petroglyphs in Western Australia to be included on the world heritage list, despite concerns about 'degrading acidic emissions'. We have a visual guide that takes a deep dive into Ukraine's extraordinary attack on Russia's bomber fleet. And the Guardian has learned the Israeli military deliberately attacked school buildings being used as civilian shelters. Environment | The Albanese government will launch a lobbying campaign in a bid to reverse a Unesco recommendation that an ancient rock art site in Western Australia can't go on the world heritage list due to damaging industrial emissions linked to a controversial Woodside gas development. Party woes | Mining magnate Gina Rinehart helped the Liberal party raise almost $400,000 at an exclusive dinner on the eve of the federal election campaign, the event's organiser has revealed, but fallout from the function has left the party embroiled in a public dispute. Abuse | One in three Australian men has reported committing intimate partner abuse, world-first research has found – and the same research has identified new ways to tackle it. Barmy army | The UK government has declared it will put the first of 12 Aukus-class submarines in the water on schedule in the late 2030s, despite its own major projects agency saying the plan to build their nuclear reactor cores is 'unachievable'. Mushroom trial | Erin Patterson has described her religious conversion and a 'never-ending battle' with low self-esteem and weight issues in emotional evidence to her own triple murder trial. Exclusive | A series of recent deadly airstrikes on school buildings sheltering displaced people in Gaza were part of a deliberate Israeli military bombing strategy, with further schools identified as targets, the Guardian has learned. Colorado | A man has been charged with a federal hate crime and multiple other felonies after he allegedly used a makeshift flamethrower and incendiary devices to attack a crowd of people who were raising awareness for Israeli hostages in Gaza, injuring eight. Sicilian eruption | A huge plume of ash, gas and rock has spewed forth from Italy's Mount Etna, Europe's largest active volcano, but authorities said there was no current danger to the population. Citizenship-by-investment | Andrew Tate allegedly secured a 'golden passport' from the Pacific island nation of Vanuatu the month he was arrested in Romania on charges including rape and human trafficking, it has been reported. Wheely old | A wheel of parmigiano reggiano has been celebrated as 'an authentic jewel of nature' after setting a longevity record for parmesan cheese. Why the key to good sleep can't be found on TikTok Social media is rife with hacks that claim to help you sleep better and deeper. From melatonin, feeding your baby butter and taping your mouth shut, the solutions range from obvious to unexpected. In conversation with Nour Haydar, anti-viral columnist Donna Lu breaks down the viral hacks that the internet claims will help you get better sleep. Sorry your browser does not support audio - but you can download here and listen $ Örkesh Dölet participated in the Tiananmen Square protests when he was just a 21-year-old student. Now 36 years in exile, Dölet speaks with Nuria Khasim how his connection with his Uyghur identity has instilled in him courage and bravery. He says: 'As Uyghurs, we do the right thing, not the safe thing.' Citrus such as oranges and mandarins are in season, offering grocery shoppers fruit that is sweet and well priced. Blueberries, on the other hand, are 'quite diabolical' from bad weather conditions and the time of year. Maddie Thomas has the lowdown on which fruit and veg you should buy and which to avoid this month. Sign up to Morning Mail Our Australian morning briefing breaks down the key stories of the day, telling you what's happening and why it matters after newsletter promotion Soccer | The Matildas beat Argentina 4-1 in a farewell match to coach Tom Sermanni. Cricket | Australian limited overs great Glenn Maxwell has called time on his decorated one-day international career to focus on next year's T20 World Cup and domestic competitions as injuries begin to take their toll. Tennis | Daria Kasatkina's first grand slam as an Australian is over, ended at the French Open by her teenage phenomenon friend Mirra Andreeva. The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, is under pressure to halt a policy giving Western Australia a greater cut of GST, the Age reports. According to the Sydney Morning Herald, University of Sydney students will no longer be allowed to make non-course-related announcements at the start of lectures after an external review on combatting antisemitism. The Mercury has photos of the Aurora Australis, with the spectacle dazzling some and leaving others underwhelmed. Wages | The Fair Work Commission will release its annual wage review. Perth | The inquest into the death of Cleveland Dodd continues in the Perth Central Law Court. Paris | The OECD Ministerial Council Meeting will convene. If you would like to receive this Morning Mail update to your email inbox every weekday, sign up here, or finish your day with our Afternoon Update newsletter. You can follow the latest in US politics by signing up for This Week in Trumpland. And finally, here are the Guardian's crosswords to keep you entertained throughout the day. Until tomorrow. Quick crossword Cryptic crossword
