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November 28, 2022
Jade Gailberger
Monday 28 November 2022
Herald Sun
For the second time this year, the Liberal Party has been plunged into crisis as it grapples with shocking election defeats in Victoria.
After four seats were lost at the May federal election, two state MPs have been unseated and five other seats remain on a knife-edge.
But members of the deeply wounded party have reason to hope, after the teal wave stopped short of victory in Kew, Hawthorn, Mornington, Caulfield and Brighton on Saturday.
This was despite Climate 200 funnelling money into most of their campaigns, albeit not to the same huge amounts seen at the federal election due to caps.
Federal Liberals across the country had their eyes glued to the counts in Kew and Hawthorn, which they believed were litmus tests for whether disaffected Liberal voters could ditch the teals at the next federal election.
The two seats make up most of the federal seat of Kooyong, where Monique Ryan caused an upset in May when she unseated former treasurer Josh Frydenberg.
But not even her backing and resources could help the Kew independent candidate Sophie Torney, who was defeated by former Victorian Young Liberal president Jess Wilson - who succeeds Tim Smith.
Victorian Senator James Paterson summed up the sentiment in the party saying "a rare bright spot of generational renewal in a tough night ... Now the rebuilding begins".
In Hawthorn, Liberal John Pesutto has also maintained a lead over independent Melissa Lowe.
One Liberal attributed to the success to not having Scott Morrison around, others questioned the effect of Dr Ryan's support for changes to stage three tax cuts and industrial relations laws, or whether Wilson was just more popular.
The result would be comforting for Mr Josh Frydenberg, especially if he decides to fulfil Peter Dutton's wish for him to resurrect his political career in 2025.
