Liberals
WEEKEND AT TEDDIES: Testy Ted tries to trump thrusting, thriving Krogerites to prop up factionally loyal ‘Tedwood’
It’s not just Victorian Labor and the Greens who are squabbling over jobs and positions within their parties, the Liberals are having a red hot go too.
Eyebrows were raised this week when in defiance of established convention, Party director Tony Nutt, current Leader Ted Baillieu and President Old Man Winter David Kemp unilaterally – should that be trilaterally? – ordered the placement of preselection ads in the daily newspapers, including The Aged.
Normally these ads are approved at meetings of the Admin Committee, which hasn’t yet approved them and meets this evening.
Some Liberal insiders tell VEXNEWS that the move by the Baillieu-Davis faction is calculated to protect failing and ailing Baillieu backers in the Victorian party room.
To that end, they have truncated the normal preselection process from around 8 weeks to 4 weeks.
DESPERATION STATIONS
Baillieu and his upper house faction head-kicker Davis are intent on protecting shadow ministers Andrew McIntosh, Helen ‘Chardonnay’ Shardey and Kim Wells, who are vital to Baillieu maintaining party room support.
Some believe Shardey has decided to depart, but is reluctant to break the news to Ted who only takes bad news with accompanying dummy spits, tantrums and emotional blackmail. Shardey is believed to be already scouting around for successors to defeat likely prospect David Southwick who would be backed by local warlord and cake czar Frank Greenstein.
Internal critics say that they comprise the Ted’s nursing home sub-faction and are MPs kept on life-support by their faction. “Tedwood” one member described some of his colleagues.
He told VEXNEWS:
“The point of this is Ted is not seeking renewal of the party when it most needs it. He is blocking new young talent from entering parliament because they are not in his faction.”
“How can we argue for change when all you team are from the bad old days?”
“Bouncing Admin was a really bad move, he’ll cop a bollocking over it tonight.”
The amiable old bloke Ken Smith is one of several time-serving backbenchers cited as an example of someone who is unlikely to serve on a future Liberal frontbench regardless of his charms.
Ted Baillieu’s strategy appears to be to keep everyone in the party room in order to protect his leadership.
ETHNIC BRANCHSTACKERS NAMED
We were also keen to ask our interlocutor about notable ethnic branchstackers and warlords in the Liberal party given the recent Age obsession with this issue. Of course, there’s
Frank Greenstein in Caulfield who nearly recruits as many members as he bakes cakes in his splendid cake shoppe. Also notable was the Forest Hill candidate and Indian community
leader Vasan Srinivasan who insiders from both factions say probably should be a Liberal MP but focused on the wrong seat.
There’s of course, Chairman Gladys Liu, the titular head of the Chinese Liberal Association, she has allegedly recruited many dozens of Chinese members and hope to push many
more through in her quest to succeed Shadow Attorney Robert Clark. Liu is a member of the Baillieu faction.
Other Baillieu brigade ethnic warriors include Nick Kostiris who has recruited many Greeks in his eastern suburbs seat to protect from a Krogerite parachuting in. John Pesutto hasn’t recruited that many but has his family in.
The Krogerites are it too, with Frank of Caulfield of course but also Josh Frydenberg who is loosely aligned to them for as long as he needs their vote for preselection. After that, like a merchant banker should be, he’ll be available to the highest bidder. Senators Ronno and Fifield are hopeful they can break the colt from Kooyong with no regret.
While not an ethnic stack, Andrew Olexander was for a time an enthusiastic recruiter, particularly of young spiky-haired gay patriots at nightclubs. Despite this loyal party service, Ollie blamed his demise on Robert Doyle’s “homophobia”. It was a laughable and nasty attack on Doyle, all the more puzzling considering there were so many legitimate reasons to be critical.
RESPONSE:
Ted forces who always know they’ll get a fair hearing on VEXNEWS say the advertising period is perfectly normal and that it shouldn’t be necessarily understood that the normal preselection timetable would be truncated despite strong rumours to the contrary today.
They say the ads reflected the same advertising period as pertains to federal contests.
They dispute Andrew Olexander was a stacker. Although the Krogerites respond that just meant he tried but wasn’t very good at it, despite kicking on in the Poowong under-age ice-cream trade.
They even claim the forestry mogul blue-blood Rob De Fegely as their own. Others say while Ted was friendly with Rob’s parents that shouldn’t be misinterpreted as meaning anything other than he rolls with the Robb with the extra ‘b’. In any event, they insist Rob’s candidate days are behind him and that a younger sapling would be chosen to take root by the bay.
They deny Ross Fox has any hope in Brighton, pointing to his serial unsuccessful candidate past. And strongly deny Lasher is going anywhere other than being bound for glory as the deputy Liberal leader in a Baillieu government but concede the next election will be her last.
That’s the VEXNEWS. Fair and balanced.
Discussion
37 comments for “WEEKEND AT TEDDIES: Testy Ted tries to trump thrusting, thriving Krogerites to prop up factionally loyal ‘Tedwood’”
Post a comment
VexNews is the online vigilante site for right-wing Labor and Liberal thugs. Shame on you for opposing party reform.
when did this ad go in?
if it was tuesday and the add ( as it looks) is the size of a pea, of course I would miss it and not know.
Perhaps that is what they want.
Very sneaky bitches indeed!
This is all part of a plot to protect serious Tedwood such as the slop cop
Watch out Macca … your time is up!
One VEXNEWS correspondent points out via chat:
If baillieu wins govt why asher would give up after only one term…
implies to me that they will lose
although they haven’t denied she’ll quit…
Fair point.
RDR must go.
Ollie is not now, and has never been, a patriot.
He is, was, and always will be, an absolute disgrace.
This just in: Phil Honeywood praying for Ted to be Premier, aching to be given a head position, sick of bumming around town, wishes he never jerked the party around by tossing in the towel, realises early retirement was a cock-up, not sure if he’s still got what it takes – maybe the Party will offer him something to suck it and see.
Yesterday a notice about various federal preselections was loud & proud on the Victorian Liberal Party home page. As of a minute ago it is gone. Is this to forestall inconvenient questions about why there is no notice on the home page about the state preselections so stealthily snuck into the Age?
In this age of instant communication, it would have been the work of a mere moment to put a notice on the web and send all members in these seats an email letting them know the process had started. Why are we relying on archaic media nobody reads, and, to add insult to injury, putting the ad in the house organ of the Labor Party?
McPerton was made a Trade Commissioner and Director of the TAC.
Fatty Doyle was a Director of Melbourne Health.
What about me?
Who really cares.
We should be focusing on branch stacking of the ALP. That is hilarious!
I will run for all 23 seats.
David Davis is the Vic Libs best performer but his achilles heel is his complete addiction to internal party plotting. If the day ever comes when there is not for him to involve himself in he’ll have to resort to a bit of auto-plotting.
This wins him enemies, friends and a vast army of bemused observers who wonder what could possibly possess him to spend one milisecond worrying about the numbskull Kim Wells.
There is something wrong in Victoria, ie, my ex-mate, Rat Dog Riva.
I still haven’t received my invitation to the cake shop
I have just confirmed that our local champion Lorraine Wreford has again missed out on pre-selection for the glorious Liberal party for the next state election. Why is this party so backward thinking into not scooping up such a talent as Lorraine. She is the only decent councillor at the City of Casey
I’ve been slurping up to Ted and Petro for so long, pehaps Ted will give me his seat after I lose Kooyong? That will require salting around like an old ham for a bit longer…
I will give my vote to anyone who can spare a tasty treat…or some parliamentary trout for my parliamentary fish tank.
Thpeshial Counsel??? That must be you Honeypot …. I can’t believe you lisp even when you write … how embarassment
Tense times in Kew … if JF wins next Saturday, then the Krogerites are ready to press the button on Monday, and Kelly will submit her application form. She already has the ten signatures needed – and Helen Kroger and Peter Costello have both agreed to be her reference. Ted has written a reference for Andrew McIntosh, but will it be enough. His faction will be very demoralised on Sunday morning, and wont have the energy to put up another fight. The Kroger steamroll of Kooyong will the be practically complete.
Of course any challenge in Kew will be based on the old system of delegates from branches assuming Mcintosh doesn’t resign.
Under the delegate system around 80% of the people who vote would have made their mind up prior to the day of the pre-selection as it’s mainly the active (read factional) people who are voted by their branches to be delegates at pre-selections. (although there is rarely a vote)
In pre-selections where you have a plebiscite such as Kooyong, probably about 40% of the room would have made their mind up prior to the pre-selection. These would consist of the majority of State Council delegates, about 10% of the vote and about 250 of the 600 odd local voters.
The reason of course why we still have the old system was a trade off deal to get Ted’s support for the party reforms last year. Essentially Ted agreed to back the reforms if plebiscites did not apply in this round of pre-selections in order to protect sitting members who are more likely to be re-elected under the old system than the new system.
Interesting times.
It ith true. Jothy hath a terrible lithp.
If Kelly’s bid for Kew is contingent on Joshy winning Kooyong then Macca is very safe.
Why is everyone always questioning my integrity?
Who won Liberal Party preselection for Corangamite?
Pesutto is about 100 votes ahead of Joshy.
monday week, nomination forms for KOD will be submitted at 104 … let the changing of the guard take place
Time to get rid of deadwood Fyfe. Is anyone decent running for Evelyn?
Patriots??? What’s happening in Corangamite …. Is there a result yet?
What has josh ever done for the party? He is a shameless self promoter!
Shame for Joshy that Age journos Michelle Grattan and Melissa Fyffe are not delegates to Kooyong.
This is why Joshy will lose and lose badly. He spends all his time convincing left-wing journos that vote for the ALP or the Greens why he will be a great MP.
Joshy, Pesutto will do you slowly.
simon price has won corangamite preselection …
Rubbish … Knockles was the winner.
Actually Sarah Henderson will be taking on the melted cheese in Corrangamite!
Delegates at Corangamite were whispering about Knockles strong involvement with the Party Futures reforms .
He was always going to go close, but close association with party HQ killed his chances.
DONT THINK VASIN HAS ANY CHANCE OF PRESELECTION – HE HAS BEEN HELPING BRUMBY FOR LAST 10 MONTHS
DONT THINK VASIN HAS ANY CHANCE OF PRESELECTION – HE HAS BEEN HELPING BRUMBY FOR LAST 10 MONTHS.