ELECTIONS 2022
State Libs ‘arranged’ May visit Keith Platt keith@mpnews.com.au THE Victorian division of the Liberal Party paid “all costs” associated with the attendance of former British prime minister Theresa May at a fundraising lunch at Moonah Links, Fingal, according to the party’s Hastings candidate Briony Hutton. Ms Hutton said Ms May (Lady May) was “interested in coming to the Mornington Peninsula where we have endorsed female Liberal candidates” as part of an event-intensive, multi-state five-day visit to Australia. The Australian Electoral Commission is investigating questions raised by Labor Senator Don Farrell as to whether money raised at events featuring Ms May are subject to a ban on foreign donations introduced in 2019 by the Morrison government (“Inquiry by AEC over Liberals May Meal” The News 2/3/22). Ms Hutton has told The News that about 50 people attended the $500 a head Sunday 13 February lunch at the Peppers Moonah Links Resort “hosted by the Peninsula Liberals”. “Mrs May’s visit was organised by the Victorian division of the Liberal Party,” Ms Hutton said. “Mrs May was interested in coming to the Mornington Peninsula where we have endorsed female Liberal candidates. “Liberal candidate for Flinders, Zoe McKenzie, and Liberal candidate for Hastings, Briony Hutton, welcomed Mrs May to the peninsula on behalf of the Peninsula Liberals.” In an earlier post on Facebook, Ms Hutton said it had been “an honour to host” Ms May. “Mrs May came to show her support of Liberal Party candidates on the Mornington Peninsula as we head into the federal and state elections this year,” she stated. Senator Farrell has asked the AEC to “carefully consider the disclosure obligation that falls on the Liberal Party for the declaration of an
FORMER British prime minister Theresa May with Hastings Liberal candidate Briony Hutton as they appear on Ms Hutton’s Facebook page. in-kind donation by Ms May if there is a gap between fees paid by Ms May and Ms May’s standard speaking fee” if it finds “the arrangement between the Liberal Party and Ms May is not inconsistent with the foreign donation ban”, AEC Commissioner Tom Rogers has told the Senate’s Finance and Public Administration Legislation Committee that the issue was being examined and the Liberal Party had been contacted. Publicity and bookings for the lunch with Ms May were organised by the Nepean Liberals. As well as endorsing Ms Hutton and Ms McKenzie, the Liberal party has chosen Sam Groth as its candidate for the state seat of Nepean and Chris Crewther for the state seat of Mornington.
Candidate resigns IT should become clearer later this week if Morgan Jonas will remain a candidate for the seat of Flinders at the coming federal election. Mr Jonas last week resigned from the United Australia Party “thus withdrawing my nomination”. However, he did not say if he would contest Flinders as an independent or under the banner of another political party. Mr Jonas said he would later announce “our exciting plan moving forward”. The UAP’s backer Clive Palmer said Mr Jonas “joined the party to promote his own self-interests”. “We note he has never been elected to parliament and is seeking to disrupt the political campaign of Craig Kelly to be the next prime minster,’’ Mr Palmer said. If Mr Jonas does bow out of the Flinders campaign, the remaining candidates are Surbhi Snowball (Labor), Zoe McKenzie (Liberal), Despi O’Connor (independent), Colin Lane (Greens), Cynthia Marr (One Nation) and Sarah Russell (Voices of Mornington Peninsula). Flinders has been held by Liberal Greg Hunt for the past 20 years.
Eat out with MP TEN $250 tickets are on sale to have lunch and “a round table discussion” with retiring Flinders MP, Greg Hunt. The “single table” meal with Mr Hunt, the federal minister for health and aged care, will be served at the Pier 10 winery and restaurant in Shoreham on Thursday 10 march. The lunch was arranged by the Liberal Party’s Nepean State Electorate Conference.
Location, location when it comes to votes, says MP THE sitting MP for Nepean, Labor’s Chris Brayne, says his Liberal opponent Same Groth “has a very shallow understanding of this community [if he] believes that he should represent [the community] just because he has a holiday house on the peninsula”. “I grew up on the peninsula, I went to kindergarten, primary school and high school here, my first casual job was here and, in an area like [this] being a local matters,” Mr Brayne said. In October 2020, Mr Groth featured in the real estate reports when his family home in Alphington went on the market and, in July 2021, when he was quoted as saying they were living in Mont Albert North but would “love something close to water in the long run”. On the Liberal Party’s website, Mr Groth says “Nepean is the place that my wife and I have chosen to raise our twin boys…”. It was “his mission” to make Nepean “the best place to live in Victoria”. Mr Groth did not respond to an email or phone calls from The News. Mr Groth was selected to be the Liberals’ candidate for Nepean after being granted a special dispensation to stand by the party’s administrative committee because he had been a member for less than one year. However, his candidature received backing from several influential Liberals, including federal Treasurer Josh Frydenberg, state opposition leader Matthew Guy and former premier Jeff Kennett. In the final ballot Mr Groth, a former professional tennis player and now TV sports commentator, received 74 votes, ahead of David Burgess (33 votes) and former Bentleigh MP Elizabeth Miller (four votes). Mr Brayne’s surprise victory in Nepean for Labor in 2018, followed the retirement after 20 years of Liberal Martin Dixon. Mr Dixon had held the seat with what seemed a healthy 7 per cent margin, but Mr Brayne was able to turn that around, winning by a slender 1.82 per cent. Keith Platt
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Southern Peninsula News
9 March 2022
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