Battin rejects 'extreme' slur, accuses Labor of running scared
Newly installed Victorian Opposition Leader Brad Battin has shrugged off a senior minister’s warning that he is the most extreme Liberal leader in recent history, insisting that Labor MPs are trying to distract from the fact the government did not field a candidate in the Prahran byelection.
Speaking from South Yarra a day after rolling John Pesutto, Battin – standing beside Liberal candidate for Prahran Rachel Westaway – said Labor also feared the next state election.
Victoria’s new opposition leader, Brad Battin. Credit: Justin McManus
“Am I an extreme person? That is just a ridiculous comment from a person who’s trying to throw mud out of fear,” Battin said.
“They won’t even run here [in Prahran] because they’re scared of the result of the elections coming up.”
On Friday, just hours after Battin emerged successful from that morning’s Liberal leadership contest, Health Minister Mary-Anne Thomas issued a scathing statement in which she attacked Battin’s all-male four-person leadership team and his attendance at a November rally in Melbourne’s outer south-east.
“He has put together a right-wing leadership team that doesn’t include a single woman,” Thomas said.
“Last month, he [hosted] an angry rally against an Indian community in Melbourne which Nazis attended. The rally was against the same Indian community who travelled to the Grampians this week to cook and deliver supplies for people affected by bushfires.
“Brad Battin is extreme and unstable and not the kind of person who should be representing Victoria and making big decisions.”
The newly elected opposition leader, left, with Liberal candidate for Prahran Rachel Westaway. Credit: Justin McManus
There is no suggestion that Battin, other speakers or event organisers invited the neo-Nazis or knew they would be joining the November rally, which was held in response to the renaming of a suburban lake.
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An opposition spokesman previously told this masthead that Victoria Police was immediately notified, and that Liberal MPs left the event as soon as they became aware of the individuals in question.
A byelection is due next year in the seat of Prahran, in Melbourne’s inner south-eastern suburbs, after the resignation of former Greens MP Sam Hibbins.
Hibbins resigned from the party in November, and later parliament altogether, after admitting to an affair with a staffer.
The byelection, to be held in early February, is widely expected to be a Greens versus Liberals contest and Labor has not fielded a candidate.
The Liberals ran second in Prahran at the 2022 state election, pulling just over 30 per cent of the primary vote compared to 36.4 per cent for the Greens. The Greens easily won the two-candidate count thanks to Labor preferences.
The next state election is due in late 2026.
Battin on Saturday reiterated his call for the government to lower taxes and do more to tackle crime.
“The Greens continue to say they’re delivering for Prahran, but I’m still trying to find out what they’ve delivered. Prahran Police Station is the same police station with the same quality cells, with the same front bench, as when I was a police officer there in 2005.
“They’ve got the same amount of police. No wonder crime is out of control.”
The Greens have selected St Kilda East environmental engineer Angelica Di Camillo as their candidate for the Prahran byelection.
Westaway, her Liberal challenger, is a South Yarra-based mother and president of a Thailand-Australia business association.
Battin continued to come under fire for the lack of women in his core leadership team on Saturday, this time from the Greens.
Greens leader Ellen Sandell also accused the Coalition of shifting to the right amid Pesutto’s dumping.
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“It seems the Liberals continue to be beholden to the extreme right-wing of their party, at odds with the values of Victoria,” Sandell said.
“In a democracy, all governments need to be held to account. But here in Victoria, the Liberals can’t even hold themselves together – let alone hold Labor to account. If we keep voting for the same two major parties - Labor and Liberals - we’ll keep getting more of the same results.”
Battin on Friday defended his all-male leadership team and said there would be many talented Liberal women in his shadow cabinet.
On Saturday, he said he had not yet locked in those senior positions because he had been so busy.
“I took me until about midnight to clear 840 messages on my phone. I’ll ring all my colleagues, every one of them … to start building that unity that we want to take towards the [statewide] election in 100 weeks’ time.”
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