BILL Tilley has hit out at Labor for “playing the man, not the ball” in an ongoing effort he says played a key role in the Victorian Coalition’s downfall.
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And mainstream and social media fed that campaign of “misleading comments and scurrilous claims never proven”, the Benambra MP said yesterday.
His comments were largely backed by new Ovens Valley MP Tim McCurdy, who said metropolitan media outlets were “against us” and only interested in a close election race.
But both men stopped short of laying all the blame for the Coalition’s history-making defeat on Saturday on outside sources, saying the government’s own inertia in the early days and ensuing leadership changes also played their part.
While the final results from the Victorian election are still being finalised, with counting of pre-poll votes to resume today, Labor will clearly have enough seats to form a majority government — making the Coalition the first one-term government in 60 years.
Reflecting on the loss yesterday, Mr Tilley’s first response was to say Labor’s election campaign and efforts in Parliament to destabilise the government had had a significant effect.
He said Labor had “blocked and stymied” legislation or highlighted issues that were “inconsequential” to Victorians’ day-to-day lives, and criticised ALP members for their poor behaviour in Parliament beyond the “bloody kindergarten” that is Question Time.
“One thing Labor do very well is they play the man not the ball ... and their behaviour in Parliament is what people don’t see,” he said.
“Then the media picks up on it in Hansard or through commentary in doorstop interviews and they concentrated on that.”
The rise of “poison keyboards” and social media were also having a disappointing impact, he said, though he did not provide examples.
“I won’t say something unless I’m prepared to say it to their face,” he said.
Mr Tilley dismissed the idea federal issues — particularly the backlash against the Abbott government’s budget cuts — has impacted the state Coalition as “noise the ALP and unions tried to make”, but acknowledged internal struggles played a part.
Mr Tilley himself was one of the first to publicly criticise former premier Ted Baillieu, who was replaced by Denis Napthine early last year for reasons still not explicit.
“We were very slow out of the blocks, there were decisions that simply weren’t being made from the start ... we were behind the eight-ball,” he said.
“That’s why there was a change, there was a sentiment across Victoria of what was the Coalition doing.”
Mr McCurdy was diplomatic, saying “no one thing” ever brings a government down, saying the internal battles were “a minor part”.
“I’m not blaming Abbott or Denis or Ted, the bottom line is people voted for another party and we have to get to the bottom of why that happened.”
Mr McCurdy said Labor had sold its message well but agreed metropolitan media had influenced the campaign beyond just critiquing policies.
“I think the media like a close race, they like to be in a position where they like to call the shots and have an influence over what happens in the community,” he said.
Asked if this was not simply media doing their job, Mr McCurdy said: “Yes, but when you go from reporting the facts to commentating on the story there’s a difference.”
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