State Liberals woo rainbow vote

The Liberal Party is ramping up efforts to broaden its appeal to progressive voters – including members of the LGBTQ community – as part of a push to avoid the mistakes of its disastrous law-and-order focused 2018 campaign.

The opposition’s equality spokesman, James Newbury, will on Sunday promise to create a dedicated professional legal support service, to be based at the St Kilda Pride Centre. The centre is located in Health Minister Martin Foley’s seat of Albert Park, but adjacent to the seat of Prahran, held by the Greens’ Sam Hibbins.

The state opposition’s equality spokesman, James Newbury.Credit:Penny Stephens

“The LGBTIQ+ community has been calling for dedicated legal services, delivered by professionals who understand the needs of the community,” Mr Newbury said. “Labor has ignored those calls. The Liberal Nationals Party will step in and deliver those much-needed services to the LGBTIQ+ community”.

The seat of Prahran, which covers parts of St Kilda, Windsor, Prahran, South Yarra and Toorak, is regarded as crucial for the Liberal Party. It was retained by Mr Hibbins at the 2018 state election with an increased margin of about 7.5 per cent, although Liberal candidate Katie Allen won the highest proportion of first preference votes.

The Liberal Party is also desperate to hold Mr Newbury’s seat of Brighton, which includes the suburb of Elwood. In a result that sent shock waves through the party, Mr Newbury only just managed to hold the previously safe “blue-ribbon” seat with a wafer thin margin of 1.1 per cent over Labor’s Declan Martin, who at the time of the election was 19 years old.

The review of the opposition’s 2018 state election campaign, undertaken by party elder Tony Nutt, found there had been an excessive focus on law-and-order, with Opposition Leader Matthew Guy’s “get back in control” pitch failing to resonate.

One Liberal strategist who declined to comment publicly said the party “absolutely has to pick up Prahran and retain Brighton” by reframing to appeal to a broader range of voters, on a broader range of issues.

Mr Newbury, who had previously been associated with elements of the Liberal right but has more recently been an advocate for the LGBTQ community as the party’s equality spokesman, will on Sunday participate in the Midsumma Pride March in St Kilda.

Under the Liberal pitch, funding would be provided “as soon as possible” for two legal professionals, along with administrative support, to provide legal advice to members of the LGBTQ community.

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