‘He needs to feel the anger’: Liberal MPs demand face-to-face meeting with Michael O’Brien

A group of Victorian Liberal MPs have demanded opposition leader Michael O'Brien hold an urgent meeting of MPs just hours after he reshuffled his leadership group to boost the party’s political fortunes.

In a Sunday-night email, five Liberals from the right of the party requested a meeting this week, representing a significant upping of internal pressure on Mr O’Brien after months of simmering disquiet among some MPs and party officials over the party’s popularity among voters.

The party's 31 MPs are due to meet on Tuesday morning before parliament sits. The party room meetings are traditionally held in person but have been held via Zoom during the pandemic.

Mr O’Brien is under pressure from some within his party to reverse the fortunes of the party which has lagged public polling during the pandemic.Credit:Simon Schluter

Mr O’Brien said on Sunday an in-person meeting could not take place because the party had 31 MPs, more than the 30 allowed at indoor gatherings under changes announced by Premier Daniel Andrews on Sunday. But one of Mr O’Brien’s MPs, member for Benambra Bill Tilley, is on long-term leave for health reasons. The party’s parliamentary constitution states a meeting must be held if requested by five MPs or more.

The email, sent by Brighton MP James Newbury, is co-signed by Polwarth MP Richard Riordan, western metropolitan MP Beverley McArthur, northern metropolitan MP Craig Ondarchie and Hastings MP Neale Burgess. The MPs are all considered opponents of Mr O'Brien.

"Today, the State Government announced a significant winding back of social distancing measures, including the halving of the square metre rule and the removal of mandatory mask wearing in workplaces," the email states.

"We note that one of our thirty-one Members is on leave.

"The Tuesday meeting will be our last opportunity to meet as a Party Room team this year and it would be appropriate that the meeting be in person.”

A senior Liberal MP, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said there was a chance Mr O’Brien could face a spill motion against his leadership but it was very unlikely. "People just need to vent to him face-to-face. He needs to feel their anger," the MP said.

The MP was frustrated by the response to the email from the party room secretary, MP Gary Blackwood, who said he would consult the government department in charge of parliamentary services before organising the meeting.

"How pathetic is the leadership of Liberals that they are relying on diktats from the Andrews government as to where and when the Liberal party can meet. [Former Premier Henry] Bolte would be turning in his grave," the MP said.

Mr O’Brien is under pressure from some within his party to reverse the fortunes of the party which has lagged public polling as the state government commanded the limelight as it dealt with the second wave of COVID-19 cases sparked by the hotel quarantine debacle.

The Liberal leader's approval rating – measured at 15 per cent in a poll published in The Age last month – is mirrored in the popularity of other state's opposition leaders who have found it difficult to edge their way into the daily political conversation as emboldened state leaders dealt with health crises.

In a shadow ministerial reshuffle on Sunday, Mr O'Brien elevated former opposition leader Matthew Guy to the front bench as finance spokesman in an attempt to bolster the party’s scrutiny of Labor’s record debt and spending. The party's deputy leader Cindy McLeish lost the education portfolio to David Hodgett.

Mr Riordan, one of the email's signatories, added an assistant portfolio to his responsibilities. The other MPs associated with the email did not feature in the pre-Christmas reshuffle on the eve of the last sitting week of the year.

The reshuffle meant there were 23 Liberals with shadow ministerial portfolios but the opposition is only allotted 22 shadow minister pay packets under state law. No shadow minister was left out of the front bench as part of Mr O'Brien's changes.

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