By Eleanor Wilson and Cam Lucadou-Wells
Former Gembrook MP and newly elected Berwick MP Brad Battin, whose former seat was abolished ahead of the November 26 state election, said he is “strongly considering” running for the Liberal leadership position.
Mr Battin received 48 per cent of first preference votes and claimed victory with 56.3 per cent of the two-party preferred vote, based on counted votes as of Monday 28 November.
Mr Battin said he has the support of his family and is currently in the process of calling his fellow party members to gauge the level of support he would have, should he choose to contest the leadership.
“It will depend on what is in the best interest of the party…The party is not about a person, we need to make sure we’ll be united as a party and around the community and hopefully give it a better shot in 2026,” he said on Monday 28 November.
It comes after Liberal Party leader Matthew Guy announced in a statement he would step down from the position following a second failed election campaign.
Other MPs known to be stepping up to take on the leadership include Warrandyte MP Ryan Smith and Polwarth representative Richard Riordan.
Former shadow attorney-general John Pesutto will also launch a bid if he beats teal independent Melissa Lowe to reclaim his seat of Hawthorn. He currently leads the count by about 500 votes.
Former leader Michael O’Brien and opposition health spokeswoman Georgie Crozier will not put themselves forward, according to The Age.
In 2021, Mr Battin initiated an unsuccessful leadership challenge against then-leader Michael O’Brien. Mr Guy reclaimed the leadership later that year.
Mr Battin, who was elected to the seat of Berwick over the weekend with 56.3 per cent of the two party preferred vote, said the Liberal Party’s defeat was “disappointing”.
“The overall result was disappointing and now we have a fair bit to do, particularly in the South-East, to make some changes,” he said.
“There’s a bit of a mixed bag out here…that could come down to messaging, what we’re messaging, how we’re engaging with the community… there’s lessons for us to learn.”
He said was pleased with his local campaign and intends to campaign to the Andrews Government to follow through with some of his election promises.
“Locally it was a good result, I have to say it was a bit of a relief to know on the night I was going to get across the line,” he said.
His ALP opponent Malik Zaveer called him to concede, Mr Battin said.
“The one thing [Zaveer] and I agree on is that it was a clean campaign. We didn’t have the issues we’ve heard about across the state, we respected each other’s campaigns and that’s the way things should be.”
