Pesutto said while it was “more than a curiosity” that police are alleged to have completed their investigation without talking to the person first on the scene,it was now a matter for the state’s integrity body.
“It’s gone back to IBAC now,” he told radio station 3AW. “So IBAC will be looking at the matter. And I think it’s best that it do its work and investigate it and report on it.”
By contrast,Battin – a former leadership rival to Pesutto – has said he has “genuine concerns” about the matter and has questioned the investigation by Victoria Police.
“Victorians deserve the answers now,” Battin demanded on Sunday.
Normally,alerts for media appearances by members of the opposition frontbench are sent via a centralised text message service. But the alert for Sunday’s event in Cheltenham was from an independent communications consultant.
Several of Battin’s colleagues questioned the timing of the press conference and lack of consultation with shadow cabinet members beforehand.
One frontbench MP,speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss party matters,described Battin’s press conference as a “freelance job”,and said it was “just weird”.
“At some point,senior members of an opposition need to decide if they’re going to be the alternative government or spend time with the conspiracy theorists. It was not authorised,” the shadow minister said.
Another frontbencher said the normal process when holding a press conference was to inform the leader’s office days before to ensure it wouldn’t clash with another event,and for media advisers to prepare to alert the relevant media and send out any audio or press releases.
“Most of that stuff is done centrally,” one frontbencher said. “It’s rightful to say,what the f--- is he[Battin] doing?”
However,the frontbencher also described Battin as a “team player” and saidhis 2021 leadership challenge against Michael O’Brien was “out of character”.
“He’s not going to engineer a spill,but I am sure he still has ambitions.”
Robertson,the product engineer at Sunday’s press conference,said he learnt the event was going ahead “three or four” days in advance.
“I was simply told Sunday,and that seemed good to me,” he said. “I just want the facts to come to light.”
The event followed a rare win for the Victorian Liberal Party on Saturday,when its candidateNicole Werner claimed a decisive victory in the Warrandyte byelection,in what could have been a test of Pesutto’s leadership.
Ahead of polling day,a small group of conservative Liberals – unhappy with the direction of the party under Pesutto – had speculated that a significant drop in the party’s primary vote could spark leadership speculation.
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With Labor not fielding a candidate in the byelection,the Liberal vote soared,with the primary vote up by 10 per cent from 47.35 per cent to 57.38.
In March 2021,Battin engineered a spill against then-leader O’Brien,which he lost 22 votes to nine. Battin ran for the leadership again after last year’s election loss andwas narrowly defeated by Pesutto 17 votes to 16,but retained a position on the frontbench.
While some colleagues disapproved of Battin’s strategy,the matter was not raised in the opposition’s shadow cabinet meeting on Monday morning,according to several MPs who attended.
Battin was contacted for comment.