General News
12 August, 2026
Upper house stoush signals vitriolic election
A WAR of words between two Western Victoria MPs erupted in Parliament during a recent upper house sitting.
Member for Western Victoria Bev McArthur, the Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Council, had moved a motion in condemnation of new Premier Ben Carroll.
The motion asked parliamentarians to note Mr Carroll’s role as Deputy Premier between 2023 and 2026 implicated him directly in the failings of government.
As part of the motion, Mrs McArthur said the change in leadership was “swapping one architect of the mess for another which is factional juggling, not real change”.
“Apparently the new Premier has been installed to save the furniture for the Labor Party,” she said.
“That tells you all you need to know about the contempt they have for the rest of Victoria.
“Backflip Ben is the third Labor Premier in three years and the second in a row installed by factional bosses rather than being elected by real people.”
Mrs McArthur said Mr Carroll’s attempts to distance himself from former leaders Daniel Andrews and Jacinta Allan were folly as he had been a key decision maker at their sides.
“Ben Carroll did not merely sit at the Andrews–Allen cabinet table; he voted for every budget, every tax rise and every debt blowout that has broken this state – every single one,” she said.
“What exactly is he asking Victorians to believe?
“That he was a hostage in the cabinet room, held there against his will for a decade, forced to vote for tax grab after tax grab, frogmarched into press conferences and made to grin, compelled – presumably under duress – to film all those cheerful social media videos praising the Big Build?”
Mrs McArthur said the change of leadership did not represent a change of approach for Victoria.
“Four months from an election, recognise recent events for what they are,” she said.
“Labor has not renewed itself, it has simply repackaged itself – the same product, the same factory, the same defects, just a new label.
“The Premier might steal our policies, but he cannot steal our integrity.
“He cannot ditch his record. He cannot hide his history.”
Among the back-and-forth of party members trading barbs was Labor Member for Western Victoria Jacinta Ermacora.
She hit back saying she was once again watching the Liberal Party using Parliament for stunts rather than debating legislation and putting forward ideas which improve the lives of Victorians.
Ms Ermacora said it was also hypocritical of Liberal members to speak out against Labor’s change in leadership after years of the party being embroiled in leadership changes due to factional disputes or poor election results.
“After cycling through seven different leadership changes in little more than a decade, with numerous court hearings costing them millions of dollars, the Liberal Party now ask Victorians to place their confidence in yet another leader,” she said.
“We have seen when you have been unable to talk to each other sometimes and even occasionally scowling at each other.
“After all of this instability, after years of leadership spills and internal warfare, the Victorian Liberal Party now asks Victorians to place their confidence in a team that can only form government in partnership with a third party.
“If Ms Wilson (Liberal party leader, Jess) is serious about asking Victorians to trust her with government, she owes Victorians an honest answer: how does she intend to form government, based on the current numbers?”
After an interjection from Mrs McArthur, Ms Ermacora said opposition members were simply trying to stop her from making a good point.
“Victorians deserve to know what deals might be struck, what compromises might be made and what price would be paid to secure the numbers to govern,” she said.
“It is breathtakingly hypocritical for the Liberal Party to raise this issue about leadership when their own is an absolute failure.”
Ms Ermacora said those opposite were not in a position to promise stability when polling figures show the Liberals would likely need to form an unprecedented Coalition with The Nationals and One Nation to form government.
“There is too much at risk at this election,” she said.
“The polling says that Victoria is on a path to elect the first ever Liberal–One Nation Government.
“This Liberal–One Nation government would cut frontline workers, hospitals and schools.
“If that is the debate the opposition wants to have about leadership, then let us have it honestly, because no political party in modern Victorian politics has been more consumed by leadership turmoil, factional warfare, internal instability and litigation than the Victorian Liberal Party.”
The motion was defeated.