Liberal elders are running out of options on how to spare former party leader John Pesutto from bankruptcy,which would force his exit from parliament and a byelection.
Bankruptcy disqualifies anybody from being a member of parliament. Under this scenario,a live possibility,Pesutto would be forced out and a byelection called for his marginal seat of Hawthorn.
Opposition Leader Brad Battin has defended John Pesutto’s shift to the backbench,insisting it was the former leader’s decision.
The newly minted opposition leader is likely to unveil a reshuffled shadow cabinet on Tuesday.
The 49-year-old former police officer,flanked by his new all-male leadership team,has vowed to bring the party together and said he would toughen bail laws and slash taxes.
Brad Battin and Jess Wilson could have led a next-generation Liberal Party,but neither wanted to play second fiddle,leaving the party riven by the same hatreds that consumed John Pesutto.
John Pesutto’s decision to allow remote voting in Friday’s leadership spill has put him – and his opponents – in the line of fire.
It now appears inevitable that John Pesutto will lose his position. Liberals are already speaking of his time in office in the past tense.
The party room meeting to decide Pesutto’s fate comes after his last-ditch effort on Sunday to save his job by agreeing to readmit exiled MP and defamation foe Moira Deeming.
Many in the Victorian Liberal Party want John Pesutto to go. If only they could decide who they want to replace him.