The Victorian Liberal Party are the gift that just keeps on giving and they find new and entertaining ways to turn a good feeling into one of ineptitude and crisis.
Last week was one such week for leader John Pesutto and the Victorian Liberal Party.
They should've been on a high after winning a one-horse race in the Warrandyte by-election.
They were back according to Deputy Opposition Leader David Southwick.
Now let's put aside the obvious that the ALP DIDN'T run a candidate, which I do get, even though it could be interpreted as a deliberate snub to the people of Warrandyte.
It's a bit hard to say that they're back after winning a one-horse race with token resistance from other parties but look, let's allow them to enjoy that feeling of hope.
It's unfortunate that right now, Victorians who are sick of Labor are genuinely looking for hope to endure the next three years of arrogance and disrespect from the government but that's another story. This good feeling lasted a grand total of 30 HOURS! Monday 28th August started off as just another ordinary day. The Liberal Party were getting ready for a big parliamentary week with a spring in their step and all was going well...that was until a letter landed in the hands of John Pesutto.
It was a defamation concern notice!
Yes, that's right. John Pesutto and the Liberal Leadership Team were hit with a defamation concern notice by Kelly Jay Keen (also known as Posie Parker) who is an anti-transgender rights activist.
According to Keen, they had made claims that were "grossly misconceived, wilfully vexatious and wretchedly false."
Now here's the thing! It's no secret that her "rallies" attract some very undesirable people (looking at neo-nazis) and it's also no secret that they attract a lot of counter-protestors.
What happened on that March day in Melbourne was essentially a lot of ideologies in one melting pot and that wouldn't have happened if Keen didn't bother coming in the first place.
Now Keen is suing because she was rightly called out by Pesutto for her abhorrent views which don't belong in Victoria in 2023 and suing because she claims her life was put in danger. This is the same Keen who had a large police presence to protect her in the cities she visited during her tour of Australia and New Zealand.
Back to Pesutto and Co though. This defamation concern notice sent the Victorian Liberal Party into a panic as they sought to figure out how to respond. The initial decision was to hold a meeting but then they had to postpone it which led to the farcical scene in parliament of Energy Minister Lily D'Ambrozio (of all people) launching attacks and referencing lawyers. That coming from the same D'Ambrozio who has questions to answer about branch stacking...yeah, think she should've sat back and not said a word.
Unexpectedly things took another turn on Thursday as Deputy Leader in the Legislative Council Matt Bach suddenly announced his resignation from politics. He resigned for family reasons but having seen him in action, he was a moderate who made contributions that made sense.
To say this is a blow would be an understatement. He was one of the few Liberals who were likeable and actually made sense in what they were saying. Bach was also a staunch supporter of the leadership of Pesutto so immediately this was framed in terms of "Pesutto's leadership in crisis."
Pesutto moved quickly however and at a meeting that Thursday night, brought on a motion to vote for a new Deputy Leader of the Council immediately which ended up going to Evan Mulholland who was the only nominee (yes, another one-horse race). That same meeting also announced that the Liberal Party were prepared to take on Keen's concern notice and fund any defence that might be needed.
While this would be deemed as quick and decisive leadership, the fact is that this meeting saga was a "yes we'll hold a meeting...NO WE WON'T" situation. This alone basically shows that right now, the internal issues surrounding the Liberal Party just won't go away. To make matters more worrying, the replacement for Bach will be voted on by Liberal Party Rank and File Members in the North East Metropolitan Region. These are the same Liberal Party rank and file who thought putting a Pentecostal pastor in Warrandyte ahead of a 22-year-old who would've provided youthful regeneration and new ideas was a good idea. Can we honestly trust that they will pick the right person to replace Bach? So from the "highs" of Warrandyte to the lows of "defamation concerns, reshuffle and an impending vote for Bach's replacement," it was just another week of the Victorian Liberal Party turning what should've been a good moment into another mess that reinforces that they ARE NOT ready to govern Victoria.
Comments