Victorian Opposition Leader Brad Battin wants to draw a line under the John Pesutto–Moira Deeming saga that has plagued the Victorian Liberal Party for over a year.
Deeming sued then-leader John Pesutto for defamation, alleging he falsely portrayed her as a Nazi sympathiser after she spoke at the controversial “Let Women Speak” rally on 18 March 2023—an event that was gate crashed by neo-Nazis.
The court found in Deeming’s favour, and she has since pursued both political and financial consequences for Pesutto – even seeking automatic preselection if she agreed to the party lending Pesutto the fund, something that was rejected.
Last Thursday, the Liberal Party agreed to guarantee a $1.55 million loan for Pesutto, staving off his potential bankruptcy and a costly by-election in his marginal seat of Hawthorn—a hunting ground for Teal independents. Battin, along with party president Philip Davis, supported the deal.
“This was not about personalities or past disputes – it was about protecting the interests of the people we serve and ensuring our party can continue its important work,” Battin told Neos Kosmos.
Yet, as Sky News reported this evening, Tuesday, June 24, some “conservative MPs” called the bailout a “betrayal” after it was clear that Battin backed the loan to Pesutto. It seems that they are more concerned with vengeance and maintaining ideological positions than securing a fighting chance in the next election.
A Spring in his step in Spring St.
On Wednesday, Battin fronted over 20 multicultural media outlets to outline the Opposition’s vision ahead of the next election, now just 16 months away. Flanked by colleagues including Shadow Ministers Evan Mulholland (Multicultural Affairs), Sam Groth (Tourism and Sport), and David Davis (Energy), and others, Battin sought to project confidence and unity.
When asked by Neos Kosmos about the Pesutto–Deeming matter, Battin said a party meeting the following day would finalise the issue. “I’m bound by legal advice not to speculate,” he said at the time.
Behind the scenes, however, it seemed clear that Battin would support the financial lifeline to Pesutto—a move designed to maintain party unity, defuse Deeming’s influence, and allow the Liberals to move on.
Law and Order: Tough-on-crime agenda
Battin, a former police officer, emphasised crime as a key election issue. He cited the recent machete brawl at Northland Shopping Centre and a stolen car driving into the centre just a few hours before the presser, as emblematic of worsening public safety.
He slammed the current parole system, saying, “An offender can be out on parole in 90 minutes—faster than it takes Victoria Police to complete the paperwork.” The Liberals’ proposed solution? “If you break bail, you’ll be in jail.”
But Battin also spoke about reform and said, “We must offer education, development, and community engagement inside jail. Cultural and faith leaders must be part of this process.”
He highlighted his ongoing work with the African Youth Alliance and emphasised the importance of creating role models.
“You can’t be what you can’t see,” he said.
“We must start creating role models for the next generation and it’s not about saying, here’s a guy who’s an actor I was in the room with five police officers of African background, so the kids in the classes can look and go, ‘Hey, I can be a police officer’.
Housing and cost of living: Restoring affordability
Battin said that “Houses are becoming unaffordable because this government has failed to plan”.
“We’re going to do to increase supply, they can talk about it, but it’s about putting it into action, particularly in areas we want to live.
In a rebuke to the multi apartment buildings going up Batting said, “You can’t dictate to people where to live”.
“You must have options and alternatives. Apartment living is not for me. Many in this room like me want land, and lawn.
He then moved to taxes and said that “tax is getting in the way” of new homes and home ownership.
“We hear a lot of complaints about many property taxes. We’re focused on first home buyers who want to buy a home; they can be paying effectively as much or more than the deposit in land tax.
“So, we have said that any person who buys the first home, up to $1 million, we will make sure you will not have to pay any tax for that property.
First-time buyers purchasing an established or off-the-plan property under $1 million would be fully exempt from stamp duty – a levy that currently adds as much as $40,000 to a $750,000 purchase.
The Parliamentary Budget Office estimates that more than 17,000 buyers could benefit in the first year alone, with savings of up to $55,000 for some.
Energy policy: Keep the gas tap on
Battin aimed Labor’s ban on gas in new homes. “We can’t afford to live without gas,” he said. “We should be doing the exploration needed to keep energy prices down and manufacturing viable.”
He claimed many multicultural families—particularly Indian Australians—have been blindsided by the new restrictions. “Some sold newly purchased homes once they realised they couldn’t use gas,” he said.
Education: Championing choice
The Liberals are proposing to remove payroll tax on all schools, arguing that it unfairly burdens parents trying to give their children better educational outcomes. “Choice in education is vital,” Battin said.
“Every person in the state should have a choice. That’s why we’ve committed to removing all payroll tax for all schools, so you can have the choice without having any concern that suddenly you have to pay $1,000 or $2,000 to educate your child,” Battin said.
He said his own personal experience out in “the growth corridors”, people from diverse backgrounds view “education in their communities as paramount”, and he said, “they love choice and offerings of the private schools and religious schools”.
“And many in our diverse communities value religious, community and private education.”
He warned that without indexing the payroll tax threshold, more community and faith-based schools—like St John’s Orthodox College—would eventually be hit.
Tourism and multiculturalism: The heart of Victoria
Sam Groth, Shadow Minister for Tourism, highlighted the economic and cultural contribution of multicultural communities to Victoria’s tourism industry.
“Families and friends, and business from overseas visit Melbourne, making up one of the largest cohorts of international visitors in Victoria now”.
He said the experience of going to a Greek Blessing of the Waters during Epiphany in his electorate was an experience to savour for life.
“You haven’t experienced Victoria until you’ve been to an Antipodes Festival or Diwali celebration,” he said.
Groth and Mulholland stressed that multicultural communities are key to both economic recovery and cultural vibrancy.
Support for multicultural media
Evan Mulholland, the Shadow Minister for Multicultural Affairs, stepped in to outline his vision for the portfolio, saying it is “not a portfolio within a silo, but a portfolio that works with every single shadow minister.”
He pointed to a motion passed in the upper house that very day, which called for a bigger SBS presence in Victoria. Mulholland criticised the Federal Labor government’s decision to invest in a production hub in Western Sydney rather than in Victoria.
“The Labor government said and thanked the SBS board and sought to put it on the SBS board for making that decision, but we found out through our inquiry, which we got up into arts and creative industries, that the SBS said, ‘No, no, that was an initiative of the Labor government and that was the funding opportunities that was available only for Western Sydney,'” Mulholland said.
The motion was supported unanimously by “every party,” and it called for “a physical presence of the SBS in a multicultural location in Broadmeadows or Dandenong.”
When asked by Neos Kosmos whether a future Liberal government would support independent multicultural media, Mulholland said, “Independent multicultural media is so influential to our ecosystem; we have locked in support for independent media.”
He directed criticism at the Victorian government, saying it “sat there while in Canberra, a Labor government was showing a bias towards Western Sydney, who get an airport, who get the ABC, who get SBS, and everything else—at the expense of Victoria.”
Whole of government multicultural communications
Mulholland stressed that a “whole-of-government approach is required” when it comes to communication strategies.
“They’ve got a new policy program; they want to communicate. We need to be using our multicultural media to get the message out about different programs of government that are important.”
He pointed to what he said were Labor’s failures during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I saw it in my electorate in places like Meadow Heights, where the government was not communicating effectively—with fatal consequences.”
Brad Battin then added that independent multicultural media is like regional media: “It plays a critical role in informing people and needs support.”
Regulations and taxes: A small business squeeze
Battin criticised what he called a “regulation overload” that’s stifling small businesses and driving away investment.
“We are spending $1.2 million an hour in interest payments on a debt nearing $200 billion. We need a debt stabilisation strategy,” he said.
He claimed that 130,000 businesses have closed in the past four years and that “too many regulations” are burdening already overtaxed entrepreneurs. “Small business owners now spend tens of hours every week on paperwork that doesn’t improve safety or operations,” Battin said.
Looking ahead
With the Pesutto–Deeming saga finally put to rest—at least for now—Brad Battin is attempting to reset the Victorian Liberals’ course, shifting focus to law and order, cost-of-living pressures, and re-engaging with multicultural communities in a bid to claw back ground before the 2026 state election. But if the party fails again, it may not be Labor that beats them, but the weight of internal grudges and vendettas.
