2024 Victorian Liberal Party leadership spill
Australian state political party election
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The 2024 Victorian Liberal Party leadership spill was held on 27 December 2024 to elect the leader of the Victorian Liberal Party and, ex officio, Leader of the Opposition.[6][7] Incumbent leader John Pesutto lost a spill motion and was replaced by Brad Battin in the subsequent leadership election.[8][9]
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27 December 2024
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Spill motion | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Leadership election | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Deputy leadership election | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Legislative Council leadership election | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Legislative Council deputy leadership election | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The spill occurred two weeks after the Federal Court ruled Pesutto had defamed Independent Liberal MP Moira Deeming, who was expelled from the Liberal party room in 2023 after attending an anti-trans rally that had also been attended by a neo-Nazi group.[10][11]
The positions of deputy leader, leader in the Legislative Council and deputy leader in the Legislative Council were also spilled. Sam Groth was elected unopposed to the deputy leadership after David Southwick stood down, David Davis took over from Georgie Crozier as Legislative Council leader after she did not recontest, and Evan Mulholland was returned as Legislative Council deputy leader after defeating challenger Bev McArthur by two votes.[12]
Background
2022 leadership election
Following the Liberal−National Coalition's defeat at the 2022 Victorian state election, Matthew Guy announced he would resign as Liberal leader.[13] At a leadership election on 8 December 2022, John Pesutto − who had been elected as the member for Hawthorn at the state election − defeated Brad Battin, the member for Berwick, by 17 votes to 16.[14][15]
Deeming expulsion and defamation case
On 18 March 2023, Liberal MP Moira Deeming spoke at an anti-trans rally organised by Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshull, a British anti-trans activist.[16] The rally was also attended by the neo-Nazi group National Socialist Network (NSN) and its leader Thomas Sewell.[17]
In a public statement, Pesutto described Deeming's position as "untenable" due to her "involvement in organising, promoting and participating in a rally with speakers and other organisers who themselves have been publicly associated with far right-wing extremist groups including neo-Nazi activists".[18] He then moved to expel her from the Liberal party room.[18]
Deeming subsequently threatened to sue Pesutto for defamation over his comments.[19] On 12 May 2023, Liberal MPs voted 19 votes to 11 to expel her from the party room.[20] Deeming moved to the crossbench and sat as an Independent Liberal.[21][22]
In December 2023, after months of attempted mediation failed, Deeming filled a civil complaint against Pesutto, saying that she had been falsely accused of being an associate of "neo-Nazi sympathisers and extremists".[23] Pesutto denied Deeming's claims, stating that he had never called her a "neo-Nazi, white supremacist or anything similar".[24]
Defamation verdict and Deeming readmission vote
On 12 December 2024, the Federal Court of Australia ruled that Pesutto had defamed Deeming, and he was ordered to pay her $300,000.[25] Pesutto said he was "very disappointed" by the verdict, but would not step down as leader.[26][27] One day later, Nepean MP Sam Groth resigned from the shadow ministry, saying that "in good conscience, [he could] no longer continue to serve" in his roles as Shadow Minister for Youth and Shadow Minister for Tourism, Sport and Events.[28][29]
A vote was held on 20 December 2024 on a motion to readmit Deeming to the Liberal party room. The vote was tied at 14−14 (with two MPs absent) and Pesutto used his casting vote to break the tie, although he said it was technically not needed because the motion required an "absolute majority" of 16 out of 30 MPs to pass.[30][31]
Spill announced
On 22 December 2024, Pesutto called a second meeting to discuss readmitting Deeming, which would be held on 15 January 2025.[32] He said that since the meeting on 20 December, "it has become clear that there is now a definite absolute majority of my colleagues who want this issue resolved".[32] Pesutto apologised to Deeming in his statement, and stated that there was a need for the Liberals to concentrate on the upcoming by-elections in Prahran and Werribee.[32][33]
Several hours later, The Age reported that Pesutto was going to face a leadership challenge from Brad Battin on 27 December 2024.[6] A letter calling for a special meeting was signed by Battin, Groth, James Newbury, Bridget Vallence and Richard Riordan.[34] The meeting was expected to result in a vote on Deeming's readmission and the leadership spill.[34][35][36]
On 24 December (Christmas Eve), Pesutto emailed Liberal MPs to inform them that he would allow members to vote remotely at the meeting, with Cindy McLeish and Nick McGowan unable to attend in-person.[7] Newbury accused Pesutto of breaching the party's constitution in favour of his personal interests, as McLeish was known to be a supporter of Pesutto in the past.[37] The Australian reported on 26 December that Battin had called Pesutto to inform him that he would challenge for the leadership.[38] Kew MP Jess Wilson announced publicly on the same day that if a spill motion was successful, she would contest the leadership.[2][39] According to The Guardian, Battin had earlier been asked by moderates to have Wilson as his deputy for the sake of factional balance, however Wilson did not contest the deputy leadership after realising she did not have the numbers needed to win.[33][36] Mornington MP Chris Crewther revealed on 27 December, the day of the spill, that he would also contest the leadership.[40]
Candidates
Leader
Nominated
| Candidate | Electorate | Faction | Announced | Portfolio(s) | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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Brad Battin | Berwick | Conservative[7] | 26 December 2024 |
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Chris Crewther[41][42] | Mornington | Conservative[43] | 27 December 2024 |
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Jess Wilson[33] | Kew | Moderate[7][44] | 26 December 2024 |
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Withdrew
| Candidate | Electorate | Faction | Portfolio(s) | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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John Pesutto | Hawthorn | Moderate[45][46] |
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Speculated
| Candidate | Electorate | Faction | Portfolio(s) | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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Sam Groth[33][47] | Nepean | Unaligned[a] |
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| Matthew Guy[48][49][50] | Bulleen |
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James Newbury[48][49][50] | Brighton | Moderate[51] |
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Michael O'Brien[48][49][50] | Malvern | Moderate[52] |
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Brad Rowswell[48][49][50] | Sandringham | Conservative[53] |
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Kim Wells[54][55] | Rowville | Conservative |
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Deputy leader
Nominated
Withdrew
| Candidate | Electorate | Faction | Portfolio(s) | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| David Southwick | Caulfield | Moderate[45][56] |
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Speculated
Legislative Council leader
Declared
| Candidate | Electorate | Faction | Announced | Portfolio(s) | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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David Davis[57] | Southern Metropolitan | Conservative[58] | 27 December 2024 |
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Withdrew
| Candidate | Electorate | Faction | Portfolio(s) | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Georgie Crozier[57] | Southern Metropolitan | Moderate[45] |
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Legislative Council deputy leader
Declared
| Candidate | Electorate | Faction | Announced | Portfolio(s) | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Evan Mulholland[57] | Northern Metropolitan | Moderate[4][5][58] | Incumbent |
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Bev McArthur[59] | Western Victoria | Conservative[60][61] | 27 December 2024 |
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Speculated
| Candidate | Electorate | Faction | Portfolio(s) | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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Joe McCracken[57] | Western Victoria | Conservative[43][62] |
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Results
Spill motion
| Faction | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spill motion | 18 | 64.3 | |||
| Moderate | John Pesutto | 10 | 35.7 | ||
| Total votes | 28 | 100.0 | |||
Leader
In the first round of voting, Liberal MPs each had two votes.[63]
| Faction | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conservative | Brad Battin | 25 | 44.7 | ||
| Conservative | Chris Crewther | 20 | 35.7 | ||
| Moderate | Jess Wilson | 11 | 19.6 | ||
| Second ballot result | |||||
| Conservative | Brad Battin | 21 | 75.0 | ||
| Conservative | Chris Crewther | 7 | 25.0 | ||
| Total votes | 28 | 100.0 | |||
Deputy leader
Legislative Council leader
| Faction | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conservative | David Davis | unopposed | |||
| Total votes | 28 | 100.0 | |||
Legislative Council deputy leader
| Faction | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Moderate | Evan Mulholland | 15 | 53.6 | ||
| Conservative | Bev McArthur | 13 | 46.4 | ||
| Total votes | 28 | 100.0 | |||
Notes
- Sam Groth is factionally unaligned,[1] but has also been considered Conservative.[2] Some sources have labelled him a Moderate,[1][3] however the Geelong Advertiser and The Age reported that the only Moderate elected to a leadership position in 2024 was Evan Mulholland.[4][5]