Victorian Liberal MPs elect Jess Wilson as new opposition leader

ABC NEWS (Australia)

First term MP jess Wilson has been elected in Melbourne to lead the Victorian liberal party, becoming the first woman to lead the coalition in the state's history. Ms Wilson, will take over from Brad Battin who had been in the job less than a year.

Transcript

00:00Jess Wilson is a first-term MP.

00:04She's the member for Kew, which is in Melbourne's leafy eastern suburbs,

00:07and once was a sort of liberal heartland,

00:09and it sits within the federal seat of Kewyong,

00:12which was held by liberals like Josh Frydenberg,

00:15and it's now, of course, a teal seat.

00:18So it says a little bit about the changing shape of that area.

00:20Now, Jess Wilson, as I said, first-term MP.

00:22She's in her mid-30s.

00:23She formerly worked for Josh Frydenberg

00:25and was a prominent member of the Business Council of Australia,

00:27where she worked in policy.

00:28So she brings with her that sort of economic credentials.

00:32And she basically said today,

00:34when she emerged from the party room meeting behind me,

00:36that she wanted to focus on the budget

00:38and focus on the economy of the state,

00:40because under Labor, the budget is quite in disarray.

00:44It's deeply in the red and net debt is surging up

00:46while taxes are also going up.

00:48And Jess Wilson wants to make that her pitch.

00:50So that's really sort of central to her argument

00:52and part of her change.

00:53Let's have a listen to what she said this morning.

00:56At the next election, 12 months from now,

00:58Victorians have a clear choice.

01:00A choice between a tired, out-of-touch Labor government

01:04or a new generation Liberal team.

01:07And as leader, I have a clear focus.

01:10I have clear priorities.

01:11One, to get the budget back into control

01:14so we can invest in things that matter.

01:17Two, to end the crime crisis.

01:20Three, to make sure that Victorians can get access

01:23to the health care that they need and deserve.

01:26And four, to give every Victorian the best opportunity

01:30to own their own home in this state.

01:33OK, Richard, so it was a relatively short statement there

01:36after that vote.

01:36Tell us what brought the vote on.

01:40Look, this is the big question.

01:42There's been sort of tensions within the Liberal Party

01:44about Brad Bratton's leadership for several months,

01:46but you can't really avoid the fact

01:48that the Victorian Liberal Party

01:49has been riven by internal factions for years.

01:52This is a new phenomenon.

01:53Jess Wilson becomes the third leader in 11 months

01:56to lead the Liberal Party,

01:57and I think it's the fifth

01:58since the Liberal Party lost power in 2014.

02:02And they've been undermining each other,

02:03they've been fighting with each other for a long time.

02:05And Brad Bratton took over,

02:07rolled John Pesuto just after Christmas in this very room,

02:11and he promised to unify the party.

02:12He failed to do that.

02:13His policy focus was on crime and law and order.

02:17Every day he was out talking about

02:19storing crime rates in Victoria

02:20and how the government had created this situation.

02:23But his critics internally said

02:24he was focusing too much on that,

02:26and it wasn't seeing a result in an uptick in polling numbers.

02:29They weren't getting into a winning position

02:31despite rampant crime,

02:32and that's what his colleagues were criticising him about.

02:35Now, also, a couple of months ago,

02:37he reshuffled his team,

02:38and that ruffled some feathers internally.

02:41MPs' egos were upset.

02:43They were bruised,

02:44and MPs seemed to have a problem here in Victoria

02:47where they put themselves above the party good

02:49of what the target is of trying to win government.

02:52And so Brad Bratton sort of put the nail in the coffin there

02:55with doing that reshuffle,

02:57and it really caused this to come on.

02:59And then Jacinta Allen's focus on law and order last week

03:02with their tough law and order measures

03:04really put the pressure on Brad Bratton,

03:06exposed that he didn't have much other policy

03:08other than law and order,

03:09and I think that's what sort of kicked MPs into gear.

03:12And what did Brad Bratton have to say, Richard,

03:15after he was rolled?

03:18Look, Brad Bratton was very dignified

03:20after the party room vote.

03:21Now, there was no...

03:22He didn't challenge for leadership.

03:23There was a spill motion,

03:25which went 19-13,

03:26and once that spill motion had got up,

03:29Brad Bratton didn't contest.

03:30He was very dignified.

03:31He held himself very well and said,

03:33look, he's still committed to the team

03:34and he made it clear that his thoughts were

03:36with victims of crime when he was speaking.

03:38That's what he was thinking about.

03:39That's what his waking moments are about.

03:42He's a former police officer

03:43and it really is in his DNA to be talking about crime.

03:46Let's have a listen to how he handled himself.

03:48The Victorian Liberal Party now has a very clear path

03:51to go towards the next election.

03:53When I sat in that room just then,

03:55and obviously I'm out here now first,

03:57so the vote didn't go my way,

03:58but what I will tell you

04:00is I was sitting there thinking of people like Mark and Tennille

04:03who have had people come into their home

04:05and the Victorian Liberal Party need to make sure

04:07that we're on path to ensure

04:09that we can get into power at the next election

04:11because we need to see genuine change

04:13and we can't just wait for it to happen.

04:16Richard, what does this mean for the future of the party?

04:20Well, this is a good question

04:22that I think Liberal parties are dealing with

04:23across the country.

04:24We've seen it with the Federal Liberal Party

04:26is what do they stand for?

04:27What are the issues that they prioritise?

04:30And is that resonating with voters?

04:31We know that voters, particularly under 40,

04:33are really not considering the Liberal Party

04:35as someone to vote for.

04:36And so Jess Wilson needs to convince voters,

04:38particularly young voters,

04:39that the Liberal Party is a viable option.

04:41She has to unify the party,

04:42which has been a challenge

04:43for every Liberal leader in this state since Matthew Guy.

04:47Trying to have a united team

04:48is the message that she needs to project

04:50because voters know that this Liberal Party

04:52has just changed leaders regularly

04:54and that they are riven by those internal fights.

04:56So it's even a patooter advocate sort of punchline,

04:59if you like.

04:59So she needs to convince people

05:00that that is what she can do

05:02and she needs to talk about issues

05:04that people are interested in.

05:05We know that crime is a big issue,

05:06but we also know that people aren't necessarily

05:08blaming the government for all their crime issues.

05:10That's what polling tells us.

05:12So she needs to switch her views,

05:14her priorities, I should say,

05:16and we can expect that to be about budget

05:17and housing affordability

05:18and the state of the health system.

05:20She's got a big challenge ahead of her.

05:22This is a government she's up against

05:23that is 12 years old

05:24and that should give her some advantage,

05:26but also it's a Labor Party

05:27that is a very strong campaign machine

05:29and she has only been a one-term MP.

05:32She's only had to sort of fight an election

05:33in her own backyard in the seat of Kew.

05:36She's now having to switch

05:37and be a leader for the entire state

05:39and that is going to be a big challenge.

05:40Jacinta Allen is a seasoned campaigner,

05:43so that is something

05:43that she's going to have to contend with.

05:45But first of all,

05:45I think she needs to have a unified party

05:47and come up with a policy message

05:49and a narrative

05:50that Victorians are going to listen to

05:51and that could be the biggest challenge.

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