From the moment a judge ruled that Victorian opposition leader John Pesutto had defamed ousted Liberal MP Moira Deeming, in the aftermath of a Let Women Speak rally, his leadership was done for. All that remained to be seen was how long he could put off the inevitable.
For a while, it seemed likely that Pesutto would at least get the grace of having the silly season to get used to the idea that his leadership was doomed. But it doesn’t look as if the party are willing to let the issue fester any longer than they can help it. Instead, it appears they’re going for the traditional ‘killing season’ gambit: knife the leader just before the summer break and give voters a few months to forget about it.
Embattled Victorian Liberal leader John Pesutto will face a special party room meeting on Friday to debate his handling of the expulsion of ousted MP Moira Deeming.
Five MPs have backed the meeting which is not specifically about any leadership spill but this has not been ruled out as a possibility.
This comes less than a week after one of Pesutto’s frontbenchers – and a widely touted leadership contender – quit the shadow ministry.
Victorian Liberal frontbencher Sam Groth has stunned his colleagues by quitting the frontbench, piling pressure on John Pesutto over the defamation crisis crippling his leadership.
Mr Groth declared that he could not ethically remain on the frontbench given the nature of Mr Pesutto’s defamation defeat […]
Mr Groth’s decision came on the same day that Upper House MP Bev McArthur – an enemy of Mr Pesutto – challenged Mr Pesutto to declare his position vacant on and allow a spill.
The Liberals, though, are not showing any signs of learning a damned thing from years of dominance by the so-called ‘moderates’, which has only seen the party become less and less relevant.
A senior Liberal frontbencher said Mr Groth’s decision could destroy his career.
“He may never come back from this. It’s a seriously stupid decision,’’ the MP said […]
The announcement comes as there is open chatter about a compromise leadership ticket involving shadow treasurer Brad Rowswell and education spokeswoman Jess Wilson.
In other words, just rinse-and-repeat dripping-wet moderates. And while Moira Deeming regularly packs out town halls, the pathetic, wet Vic Libs refuse to learn the lesson from Pesutto’s humiliation.
At the same time, one senior MP said that Moira Deeming’s return to the partyroom would be “opposed to the end of the world’’ because of the damage caused by the defamation action.
It is believed that Ms Deeming is unconvinced that the partyroom will allow her return despite her defamation victory.
And why would she? This is a party that is afraid to be conservative and, frankly, doesn’t deserve to win. And is unlikely to, even against a hopeless Labor party which has beggared the state for the second time in a quarter-century.
Victorians deserve all they get.
