Yesterday's headline, "Former Liberal MP Tim Smith considering return to Spring Street," has created such a storm that the headline has changed to: "Pesutto faces fresh leadership test after being blindsided by MP’s resignation."
https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/he-s-back-former-liberal-mp-tim-smith-considering-return-to-spring-street-20230531-p5dcrv.html

tl;dr: Tim Smith is a self-serving fool, and he can't see that he's being used as a pawn in a leadership spill.

Tim Smith has ambitions to return to politics. A few months after drink-driving his car into the side of a house, he feels he's spent his time in the wilderness and wants to get back into Parliament.

Meanwhile, the RWNJ faction of the Victorian Liberal Party are as keen as ever to nudge the Overton Window further to the right. Nowadays, this faction is frothing for Moira Deeming because they're mostly TERFs and Neo-Nazis -- I say "and" here, not "or" because there's such an ideological overlap that they're basically the same type of person.

Seems they see this bye-election as a win-win scenario: if they win the election then the party gains a seat in Parliament, and if they lose the election then the extreme-right faction will use the loss as a pretext to spill John Pesutto and install an even more extreme leader.

All the need is a candidate who's highly visible, can appeal to rusted-on conservative voters, but can also rile-up the extremists.
Tim Smith is the perfect tool for this job.

#AusPol #VicPol #SpringSt #TimSmith #TERF #MoiraDeeming #JohnPesutto #LibSpill

Exiled MP Moira Deeming delivers ultimatum to Victorian Liberal leader John Pesutto
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-05-04/john-pesutto-moira-deeming-liberal-party-internal-warfare/102301226

My opinion is that John Pesutto is a gutless fool, and Moira Deeming should have been kicked-out of the Liberal Party for being a TERF and neo-nazi. Matthew "Lobster With A Mobster" Guy has always lacked the nouse to read the room, so it's no surprise at all that he's calling for "party unity" to defend a colleague who's a TERF and neo-nazi. Right now, Moira Deeming is doing what Moira Deeming does: having a tantrum to get noticed because she's an attention-starved egomaniac.

#Auspol #SpringSt #TERF #MoiraDeeming #Deeming #JohnPesutto #Pesutto #MatthewGuy #LobsterWithAMobster

#Australia news LIVE: Stuart Robert Synergy 360 meetings blasted; Voice to Parliament discussions continue; #JohnPesutto, #BradBattin vie for #Victoria Liberal Party leadership; #SeanTurnell given standing ovation; #NSW COVID cases decreasing;
#smh https://www.smh.com.au/national/australia-news-live-labor-s-industrial-relations-reforms-pass-the-senate-liberals-to-finalise-voice-to-parliament-position-next-year-20221201-p5c2xs.html

Liberal Victoria's only hope for the future was #JohnPesutto winning Hawthorn and stepping into the party leadership. But he's lost to a Teal independent, Melissa Lowe. Now they are truly f*cked. With the cohort of idiots that are left I can't see them ever recovering.
#auspol