History made as Wilson elected Vic Liberals leader
Liberals are making history in Victoria with a new female boss landing the top job. A revolving door of leaders has plagued the party over the past 11 months.
Source: Sky News
Jess Wilson has taken the reins of Victoria’s embattled Liberal division after her backers knifed the leader in a swift coup.
With just over 12 months until the Victorian election, Opposition Leader Brad Battin lost the top job to Kew MP Jess Wilson on Tuesday morning after a successful spill.
The 35-year-old is the state party’s third leader in 11 months after John Pesutto was dumped and replaced by Battin in late December.
The Victorian branch of the Liberals has never had a woman at the helm in its 81-year history.
After the vote, Wilson said her focus as leader would be getting the Victorian budget under control, ending the “crime crisis”, ensuring better health-care access, and giving “every Victorian the best opportunity to own their own home in this state”.
“They are my priorities, they are my team’s clear priorities,” she said.
“I will work every day for Victorians to make sure at the next election they have a clear alternative, a clear and credible alternative, to vote for that gives them hope for the future of Victoria.”
Wilson thanked Battin, describing him as a tireless worker for the Liberal Party and saying he would have a key role to play in the party leading forward.
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Brad Battin was elected only in December last year. Photo: AAP
Tuesday’s spill came after a delegation of Liberal MPs visited Battin on Monday afternoon to tell him he had lost party-room support. More then called to deliver the same message.
Wilson, a former staffer to ex-federal treasurer Josh Frydenberg, arrived at the meeting flanked by MPs Brad Rowswell and Evan Mulholland.
Battin walked into the party room alone and spoke briefly after the spill.
“I stand continuously proud in the role that I’ve done and the things that I’ve done for the community,” he said.
“The Victorian Liberal Party now has a very clear path to go towards the next election.”
Pesutto, who was dumped in December to make way for Battin, wouldn’t say if he supported the leader.
“I just want to see us make a decision today and move towards the next election,” he said.
“At the end of the day this is all about the Victorian people.”
Two-time opposition leader Matthew Guy categorically ruled out a return to the top job.
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“Eighteen years of marriage and my wife will get her wish today,” Guy said.
“She said ‘don’t you come back opposition leader’ and I won’t.”
Warrandyte MP Nicole Werner repeatedly said she supported the leader, while another former leader, Michael O’Brien, said it was “blue skies”.
“I think there’s been a lot of unfortunate mistakes to take place over the last few months,” retiring party stalwart Kim Wells said.
Wilson is the Victorian party’s fifth leader since September 2021.
Support for the state opposition has slipped in recent reputable polls despite the three-term Labor government grappling with soaring crime and state debt.
However, a Freshwater poll published by the Herald Sun on Tuesday suggested the Coalition had its nose in front of Labor at 51 per cent to 49 per cent, with Battin’s favourability rating at +15.
Tensions within the party have simmered since a crushing election defeat in 2022, spilling into a defamation lawsuit by Liberal MP Moira Deeming against Pesutto.
The moves among Victorian Liberals come after their federal counterparts abandoned their net-zero emissions policy, stoking speculation of a challenge against leader Sussan Ley.
Meanwhile, the NSW Nationals’ new leader, Coffs Harbour MP Gurmesh Singh, argues the coalition is not fractured, despite radical positions on climate change.
Singh was elected unopposed on Tuesday, less than 24 hours after former broadcaster Dugald Saunders’ shock resignation for family reasons.
In his pitch to disaffected coalition voters, the macadamia nut farmer emphasised a message of unity.
“Governments need to be doing not just talking, and that’s something that the coalition has delivered in spades,” Singh told reporters in his first press conference as the regional party leader.
“We’ve got a track record … we have people who’ve been very successful ministers in the past, and a lot of talent coming through, ready to take the baton up at the next election.”
But when pushed on his position on net zero which the party membership has resolutely opposed, Singh was diplomatic on how he would work with the Liberals.
“We’ve got to work constructively with our coalition partners because we believe we are better placed to form government.”
-AAP
