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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