“It’s a very restrictive role. I say leader of the opposition is the loneliest role I’ve ever had. Even though you’ve got someone with you the whole time, it doesn’t always feel like you’ve got someone to talk to.”
Battin said he would remind Wilson to keep speaking to her MPs, but that he trusted she had made no deals about shadow cabinet positions.
“She can go in there with an open mind and actually say, you’re the best person for this particular role,” he said. “Would I put my hand up for one of those roles? Yeah, I would. I’m pretty passionate.”
Three MPs suggested Wilson could retain the treasury portfolio herself, having gained it in the October reshuffle that doomed Battin’s leadership. Former West Australian premier Marc McGowan and former Victorian premier Steve Bracks both held the treasury portfolio as leaders.
Wilson did not rule out the possibility on Wednesday.
“I’m having lots of conversations with my colleagues over the coming days,” Wilson said.
Rowswell was shadow treasurer when Wilson held the finance portfolio under Pesutto’s leadership and the pair developed a tax reform and fiscal repair package. The MPs did not respond when asked about their potential new roles.
While a cohort of MPs wanted to see former leader Pesutto promoted to shadow treasurer, others believed it remained inappropriate for him to join the frontbench at all given his debt to the party’s investment vehicle Vapold, which is the subject of a Supreme Court challenge.
The Liberal Party’s state executive in June approved the $1.55 million loan to spare Pesutto from bankruptcy to meet his legal costs after repeatedly defaming his colleague Moira Deeming.
Battin remains party to the Supreme Court challenge, given he was a member of the state executive that approved the loan.
Asked on Wednesday whether she would have supported the loan as leader, as Battin did, Wilson shrugged off the hypothetical.
Energy spokesman David Davis, who lost his upper house leader position in Tuesday’s spill, said the frontbench was ultimately up to the leader but that he would continue to serve if asked.
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“I’ve done lots of jobs and have lots of experience,” Davis said. “But the point here is that Jess is leading, and she is providing a strong future.”
On Wednesday, Premier Jacinta Allan said Wilson could not explain to Victorians why Battin was replaced. “Which demonstrates that the Victorian community just cannot trust the latest leader of the opposition to be upfront and transparent with them,” she said, claiming a Liberal government would cut services.
Wilson rejected this, along with suggestions she was too inexperienced as a 35-year-old first-term MP.
“I know I have the experience to get the job done,” Wilson said. “I also know that I’m a Millennial, and the largest voting cohort at the next election will be Millennials. I understand them. I understand the pressures on Millennials, and I’m looking forward to representing them.”
She has listed the budget as her top priority followed by crime, healthcare and home ownership, in what was viewed as a clear pitch to younger Victorians.
Credit: Matt Golding
Wilson said a government she led would pause and review the $34.5 billion Suburban Rail Loop East, even if tunnels were being dug by the November 2026 election.
“We’ll look at the contractual arrangements, the financial arrangements and the construction process, and then at that point, we will make a commonsense decision that is in the interest of every Victorian,” she said.
Wilson would not say whether she would set a debt target or explain how she would lower taxes and debt, but said her team would create an “economic framework”.
