Liberal dramas continue in Victoria as state leader Brad Battin faces spill
Victoria’s beleaguered Liberals are preparing for another leadership change with just 12 months to go until the state election.
Opposition Leader Brad Battin is facing a leadership spill less than a year after taking the top job, with Kew MP Jess Wilson tipped to nominate.
A challenge could come as early as Tuesday morning when a Liberal party room meeting is scheduled to be held.
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A delegation of Victorian Liberal MPs visited Mr Battin on Monday to inform him he had lost the support of the party room, with others then calling him to say the same.
“I’d be very surprised if Brad doesn’t step down before (Tuesday),” one Liberal source told AAP on condition of anonymity.
On Monday night, Deputy Leader Sam Groth was asked by Channel Nine if Mr Battin remained leader and replied “absolutely”.
Asked if he would continue as leader, he said “only time will tell”.
If the leadership is spilled, Mr Groth’s position would also be thrown open to a vote.
Under Mr Battin, the Victorian opposition has slipped in recent polls despite the third-term Labor government facing a crime wave and soaring debt.
The Berwick MP reshuffled his frontbench in October, removing James Newbury as shadow treasurer and handing the role to Ms Wilson.
The moves further inflamed factional tensions, which have been bubbling away throughout the entire parliamentary term since Labor’s crushing 2022 election victory.
Infighting spilled over into the public domain during Moira Deeming’s successful defamation lawsuit against John Pesutto, which resulted in his loss of the leadership just after Christmas in 2025.
The coalition will need to gain at least 17 extra seats in November 2026 to form a majority government.
The Liberals and Nationals have been out of power in Victoria for all but four years since the turn of the century.
If Mr Battin were to fall, the party would have its fifth leader since September 2021.
The Victorian machinations follow increasing speculation federal leader Sussan Ley could face a challenge, after internal pressure to ditch the party’s net-zero emissions policy.
Ms Ley and the federal coalition formally abandoned that policy at the weekend.
