r/AustralianPolitics

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has issued an “unequivocal” apology after comments he made on the Bush Deep podcast caused widespread condemnation.

Asked by the podcast host to play a game of “shag, marry, date” involving Kylie Minogue, Nicole Kidman and Rhonda Burchmore, he declared he would choose “all of the above” with pop icon Kylie Minogue.

The apology came quickly. But what if those same words were said at work?

I am not a political commentator. I am a workplace lawyer. And the answer, in my professional view, is that conduct of this kind in a workplace would very likely constitute sexual harassment, and the aggrieved person could, and often does, go straight to human resources demanding an investigation.

Under the Sex Discrimination Act 1984 (Cth), sexual harassment occurs when a person engages in unwelcome conduct of a sexual nature in circumstances in which a reasonable person would have anticipated the possibility that the recipient would be offended, humiliated or intimidated.

Critically, the test is objective. It does not require proof that the perpetrator intended to cause offence – only that a reasonable person would have foreseen that possibility.

A common misconception is that sexual harassment requires physical contact. It does not. Verbal conduct alone is sufficient. A game in which named individuals are ranked by whom a participant would have sex with, marry, or date is objectively offensive because it is a hypothetical exercise of a sexual and romantic nature directed at real people who have not consented to being ranked in that way.

“Cultures are informed by the worst behaviours leaders are willing to tolerate. Men in positions of power and influence must do better.”

It may pass as informal entertainment among teenagers, but the moment equivalent conduct is directed at named colleagues in a workplace, it almost certainly crosses the line. The law does not carve out an exception for conduct dressed up as a game.

In the 2014 case of Richardson v Oracle Corporation Australia Pty Ltd, the full Federal Court awarded $130,000 in general damages to a victim of verbal sexual harassment. This landmark decision put beyond doubt that Australian courts treat verbal conduct with the same seriousness as physical harassment. Courts and tribunals assess the nature and impact of conduct, not how the perpetrator chose to characterise it.

Internationally, a United Kingdom employment tribunal found last year that a “snog, marry, avoid” game played by Derbyshire police officers using images of sex workers constituted sexual harassment under the UK Equality Act, describing it as “crass and inappropriate”. There is every reason to expect a comparable outcome in Australia.

The legal framework around the prevention of sexual harassment in Australia has grown stronger under the Albanese government. Following the Respect@Work reforms of 2022, employers now carry a positive duty to take reasonable and proportionate measures to eliminate sexual harassment before it occurs, not merely to respond to complaints after the fact.

Organisations must actively foster a culture in which this kind of conduct is unacceptable. Employers who fail face vicarious liability under section 106 of the Sex Discrimination Act and increased regulatory scrutiny from the Australian Human Rights Commission.

The Respect@Work reforms were championed by the Albanese Labor government itself. The prime minister stood behind laws requiring employers and leaders to proactively eliminate exactly this kind of conduct. He did so rightly because words matter and culture starts at the top.

His apology was swift. But apologies do not change the underlying conduct. If a manager or colleague made these comments in any Australian workplace tomorrow, they may well lose their job. If I were advising the employer, they certainly would because to eliminate sexual harassment, there must be zero tolerance and tough consequences.

Workplace cultures are informed by the worst behaviours leaders are willing to tolerate. Men in positions of power and influence must do better. The standard the law demands is not a high bar. It is simply basic respect.

>If you spent your time on the websites of the Bureau of Statistics, the Reserve Bank (RBA) and the ASX, you'd think things were going fine.

>Economic growth is a solid if unexciting 2.5 per cent, job growth is reasonably strong and unemployment is down. Inflation is coming down, consumer spending is growing and while the share market is not booming this year, it is holding the 33 per cent gain of 2023 to 2025.

>In fact, the economy is doing so well the Reserve Bank has been raising interest rates to slow it down.

>But consumer sentiment is rock bottom and Australians are as pessimistic about the economy and as pissed off as they have ever been, so much so they are turning to Pauline Hanson, an inhabitant of the Australian political fringe for 30 years and not someone who springs to mind as the best manager of a complex economy.

Prominent gambling reform advocate Tim Costello has blasted the government’s new advertising rules for streaming services as being much worse than the status quo, accusing Labor of removing existing protections to favour sports betting companies at the expense of families.

Some Labor MPs are also concerned that the new laws for streamers represent a backwards step, after this masthead reported that Labor’s long-awaited gambling package will override the current advertising blackout for live sport streamed online between 5am and 8.30pm.

Tim Costello said the latest package from Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Communications Minister Anika Wells was a backwards step on streaming – where a growing number of Australians watch sport.

Instead, Labor’s changes will allow digital platforms to start showing registered adult users unlimited gambling ads at half-time and quarter-time breaks unless they opt out – a move critics warn will flood streaming services with betting advertisements.

Costello, the chief advocate of the Gambling Reform Alliance, described the carve-out for streaming services as “the most generous gift to the sports betting companies I have ever seen”.

“What they have put up is much worse than the current state of non-action,” he told this masthead.

Streaming platforms to show unlimited gambling ads under Labor’s new laws

“They have removed the protections that were there, which will massively benefit foreign multibillion dollar sports betting companies and the streaming services. It is open slather to take over sports, groom our kids, and make sports and gambling cemented in our culture.”

Gambling reform has been a sensitive issue inside Labor since the late Labor MP Peta Murphy recommended a blanket advertising ban in her 2023 report. The government is dealing with competing demands from reform advocates as well as the media, sports and betting industries.

Former minister Michelle Rowland’s proposal to restrict television ads and totally ban online advertising was canned by the prime minister to avoid a messy fight with industry in the last term of parliament.

Wells’ proposal goes further than Rowland’s by banning the newer online keno and offshore lottery industries, and dealing with online influencers. But it contains looser restrictions than Rowland’s package for television and, in particular, streaming services.

Labor MP Mike Freelander, one of the government backbenchers who has spoken in favour of tougher gambling ad laws, said he had major concerns about the decision to remove the advertising blackout for streaming services and the move needed to be explored further.

Several other MPs in the Labor caucus who have pushed for gambling reform welcomed the government’s package, saying it was a good first step, although they would like to see stronger laws in future – including if this meant Wells’ laws were strengthened in negotiations with the Senate.

The Greens want the government to go further, and the Coalition is determining its position on the laws, which will be probed by a Senate inquiry over the winter break. Liberal backbenchers Simon Kennedy and Andrew Wallace are advocating internally for the opposition to take a tougher stance.

Former Liberal MP Keith Wolahan, who was a member of Murphy’s inquiry, said Labor’s reforms made some progress but fell well short of the committee’s recommendations.

“Any changes should reduce children’s exposure to gambling advertising, not simply shift it onto different platforms,” he told this masthead.

Costello said the package posed a significant problem given streaming services were the future of live sport. Nearly half of Australians already watch live sport through digital platforms.

Both Albanese and Wells have defended the package, saying it is stronger than current settings because it will require streamers showing gambling ads to give a clear and easy-to-access “opt out” option, and children could therefore be protected from seeing gambling ads at all times of the day.

“I think we’ve got the balance right,” Albanese said on Friday.

“There is a carve-out that anyone can choose from their devices. So, for example, if they’re streaming something online, people can exclude themselves from any gambling advertising, full stop.”

Costello said that argument was undermined by data from SBS On Demand, which already offers users an advertising opt out. The latest available figures, reported by Crikey in April, said 16,000 of the streaming service’s 12.9 million registered users had chosen to opt out of ads, including for gambling – about 0.12 per cent.

He wants the government to instead pursue an opt-in model, where people have to actively choose to receive gambling advertisements. Kennedy is also encouraging the Liberals to take that position.

At the very least, Costello said, the current advertising blackout on live sport streamed between 5am and 8.30pm should be reinstated. Under the new laws, the rules remain for television, although the start time has been delayed to 6am.

“[Reinstating the blackout] would be absolutely minimum. It doesn’t make sense, and it’s confusing, if the same game you’re watching has different rules [on different platforms]. That’s unacceptable,” Costello said.

“The world is moving to streaming, and so you need to tackle streaming if you want to set laws that aren’t outdated tomorrow, that are actually helping delink sports and gambling. That’s either a ban, or if you’re generous, an opt-in for the ads.”

The political bit

A Tasmanian government bill to ban greyhound racing is on hold in the Legislative Council.

The Labor opposition opposes it, and the government is not confident it will be supported by enough upper house independents to pass.

"The future of the greyhound racing industry is very uncertain," Ms O'Connor said.

Premier Jeremy Rockliff described the videos as "horrific" and "challenging to look at".

"The only thing standing between banning greyhound racing and not is [Labor MP] Dean Winter and the Labor party," he said.

"I urge all Labor members of the parliamentary team to look at that footage and tell Tasmanians why they will not support a phase out and ban of greyhound racing."

Asked about the videos, Labor leader Josh Willie said he had not seen them but described all animal welfare incidents as "serious".

"We need to make sure there is transparency in the industry," he said.

Mr Willie said Labor continued to support the greyhound racing industry.

Hello everyone, welcome back to the r/AustralianPolitics weekly discussion thread!

The intent of the this thread is to host discussions that ordinarily wouldn't be permitted on the sub. This includes repeated topics, non-Auspol content, satire, memes, social media posts, promotional materials and petitions. But it's also a place to have a casual conversation, connect with each other, and let us know what shows you're bingeing at the moment.

Most of all, try and keep it friendly. These discussion threads are to be lightly moderated, but in particular Rule 1 and Rule 8 will remain in force.

Feminist advocates from Zali Steggall to Sall Grover have condemned Anthony Albanese for declaring he would “shag” Kylie Minogue if his marriage went “tits up”, labelling his remarks “degrading” and “beneath” the office of the Prime Minister.

Women’s Minister Katy Gallagher and One Nation leader Pauline Hanson on Sunday ­refused to say whether Mr Albanese’s comments were appropriate, but the Coalition accused him of demeaning his role as national leader with “locker room talk”.

Mr Albanese drew criticism from across the political aisle after he said he would choose to have sex with Minogue over Nicole Kidman and Rhonda Burchmore during a game of “shag, marry, date” on a podcast with comedian Nikki Osborne last Friday.

The Labor leader initially said he had “just got married” to wife Jodie Haydon and was “only six months” into the union following their wedding last December.

But when asked to pretend who he would pick if his marriage went “tits up”, Mr Albanese said he would “clearly” choose Minogue for “all of the above”, calling the singer “terrific”.

In between the game about fantasy partners, Mr Albanese was also asked if he and Ms Haydon were “still bonking like rabbits”, to which he responded that they did so “after the footy”.

“It’s always a good aphrodisiac, a Souths win,” he said.

Ms Steggall said it was “entirely inappropriate for the Prime Minister to participate in such a game”.

“He needs to learn to push back, lead by example and call it out as sexist,” she said.

While the Warringah MP formed the Community Strong Australia party last month with fellow teal Allegra Spender, Ms Steggall’s criticism was not on behalf of CSA or its co-founder.

Opposition communications spokeswoman Sarah Henderson said Mr Albanese’s remarks were “disrespectful to women, embarrassing to Australians, and demean the office of Prime Minister”. Senator Henderson said the comments also undermined Mr Albanese’s message that Labor, under his leadership, was a champion for gender equality as the first majority-female government in Australia.

“Rather than politely decline to engage, Mr Albanese got into the gutter with his grubby remarks, which show extremely poor judgment at a time when trust in Labor is collapsing,” she said. “Mr Albanese’s crude locker room talk makes a mockery of Labor’s claim to be champions of women. How low can this Prime Minister go? Australians deserve better than this.”

The podcast was filmed at The Lodge, where Mr Albanese lives and was married to Ms Haydon, but Senator Henderson withheld criticism for the podcast host, who “cleverly skewered the Prime Minister”.

Women’s rights advocates condemned Mr Albanese’s comments on the podcast less than a week after Labor and the Greens voted down two attempts by One Nation and the Coalition to reinstate biological definitions of sex to the Sex Discrimination Act.

Mr Albanese has previously dismissed the issue as a “culture war” and businesswoman Ms Grover said his latest remarks were leaving a poor track record.

“I think it’s telling that as Albanese is dismissing women’s sex-based rights as a ‘culture war’, he is being culturally repulsive by using the degradation of women seemingly to win ‘cool guy’ points,” Ms Grover said. “If he wants to prove us wrong he can do the work to actually listen to women and put the accurate definition of women back in law.”

Women’s Forum Australia chief executive Rachael Wong also took aim at Mr Albanese for the SDA issue, adding that it was “not surprising that a Prime Minister who laughs off this sort of casual objectification has also shown little interest in fixing laws that are failing to protect the rights, safety and dignity of women and girls”.

Melinda Tankard Reist, co-founder of grassroots movement Collective Shout, said politicians were “renowned” for evading questions yet Mr Albanese still engaged in a variation of the misogynistic “f..k, marry, kill” game.

“I don’t care if you’re trying to reach a younger audience,” she said, “it’s beneath him as a man, as a leader of this country especially, and it sets a very bad example. The bar is already low and this has taken it even lower.”

A representative for Minogue was contacted for comment.

Premier David Crisafulli has promised to introduce harsher penalties for young people who commit serious crimes while on bail.

The proposed "breach bail, go to jail" laws will create a new offence that carries a minimum mandatory prison sentence.

Mr Crisafulli said the policy will be passed into law by the end of the year.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has accused Australia’s conservative parties of engaging in a “race to the bottom”, branding them the “axis of grievance”.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has accused Australia’s conservative parties of engaging in a “race to the bottom”, branding them the “axis of grievance”.

At his keynote address to the NSW Labor Party conference on Sunday, Mr Albanese sharpened his political attack on the Coalition and One Nation.

“The Liberals think that the way forward is to change their name. Well, I’ve got news for them. The problem is not their brand, it is their product,” Mr Albanese said.

“It is not their sales pitch, it is their policies. It’s not what they call themselves, it who they are.

“It is the race to the bottom that all three right wing parties are caught up in. They are the axis of grievance.”

Mr Albanese has increasingly sought to politically link the Liberal Party, the Nationals and One Nation together.

“Our opponents only ever define themselves by who and what they are against. We are defined by what we are for,” he said.

In response to Mr Albanese's remarks, Nationals leader Matt Canavan told Sky News that the PM had a “tin ear”.

“For one, I think those comments… show how much of a tin ear this Prime Minister has,” Mr Canavan said.

“I mean, the Australian people do have some legitimate grievances under his watch. Real wages have dropped 15 years, back to 2011 levels.

“Under his watch energy prices have skyrocketed and we’ve lost our nickel (industry), our plastics (industry), our flat glass (industry).”

Australia News Politics Anthony Albanese brands right wing parties the ‘axis of grievance’ during address to NSW Labor Party conference Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has accused Australia’s conservative parties of engaging in a “race to the bottom”, branding them the “axis of grievance”.

From the time he was a child, James Knight knew his future lay in rural Victoria. Although he grew up in Melbourne, Knight got a taste of life on the land during school holidays at his uncle and aunt’s beef and cropping farm.

From that moment, his mind was made up.

“I got hooked,” he says.

Later, Knight worked in corporate agriculture for four years while living with his wife, Georgie, in Melbourne. And during that time, the land kept calling.

The couple both wanted the farm life and experience of living in a close rural community. So, when the chance came to take over Georgie’s family beef farm in south-west Victoria, they took it.

But when they moved there in 2016, Knight found a community simmering with frustration. There was a proposal at the time for a wind farm with more than 40 turbines.

While some landowners agreed to host turbines, many in the community vehemently opposed them, including Knight’s father-in-law.

It was obvious to Knight that the project consumed the lives of neighbours “and not for the better”. So he sided with his father-in-law, declining to host turbines on their farm.

The renewable energy wind project proceeded anyway with 35 turbines, including one erected 200 metres from Knight’s title boundary and 1.5 kilometres from his house.

Knight understands Victoria needs renewable energy. But he believes many regional communities feel corporate interests have forced renewable projects on them, while compliant governments allowed the benefits to flow to the cities.

Renewables infrastructure has angered some residents of regional Victoria.

Renewables infrastructure has angered some residents of regional Victoria. Jason South

“How about we put 30 or 40 of these across the St Kilda foreshore and see how you go?” Knight says. “Because it’s the same for us out here. We don’t want them.”

Knight says there are also frustrations with turbines and transmission lines hampering aircraft access, which can be required for firefighting and spraying fertiliser on farms.

Anger about the wind farm is emblematic of broader frustrations taking root across regional Victoria.

It’s not just the soaring transmission towers and lines stretching across the landscape throughout much of the state’s south-west. Or the wind turbines rising above farms where there was once uninterrupted sky.

Potholes are among the biggest frustrations in the regions.

Potholes are among the biggest frustrations in the regions. Justin McManus

It is not only the absence of doctors forcing people to drive long distances on roads pockmarked with festering potholes that pose a daily hazard to cars and lives.

Nor is it just the hangover of pandemic restrictions that damaged faith in government institutions. Or the patchy mobile and internet coverage. Or the fire services levy that enraged volunteer firefighters.

It is these and more grievances compounding into deep-seated resentment, and driven by a perception that state and corporate interventions inflict more harm than solutions to problems.

Many of these issues are specific to regional Victoria. Yet here’s why they matter to everyone else.

Then-premier Jeff Kennett flinging sand at the media at a CityLink event in 1996. In 1999, his government lost an election considered “unlosable”.

In 1999, rural seats swung hard against the Liberal Party, booting then-premier Jeff Kennett from government in an election he was expected to win easily. The eight regional seats Labor flipped, and three regional independents backing them, were enough to secure Labor minority government.

So began an era of political dominance that continues today.

But the dynamic is shifting drastically. Labor now faces the prospect of losing government in November after accumulating heavy political baggage over three terms.

Unlike previous state elections, Victoria is in uncharted political waters. Multiple polls indicate fed-up voters are warming to Pauline Hanson’s One Nation – a prospect that seemed all but impossible a year ago.

Knight is not a member of any political party, but he understands Hanson’s appeal. When Hanson took aim at renewables in her recent address to the National Press Club in Canberra, Knight said the message cut through.

One Nation leader Pauline Hanson last month addressed the National Press Club for the first time.

“Any individual or organisation that’s going to call out renewable energy, you will get regional communities on board because I feel like we’re seeing it firsthand,” Knight says.

In 2024, the Clean Energy Council reported that farmers could earn more than $40,000 a year per turbine on their property and $1500 per hectare annually for solar panels. Farmers are also reimbursed for transmission line easements on their properties.

Justine Hide is also no stranger to state politics seeping into everyday life. The deputy mayor of Northern Grampians Shire spent the past year on a community reference group seeking government answers for landowners worried about the long-term impacts of the renewable energy transition.

The meetings touched on solar, wind and power lines, but tended to be dominated by one particular $7 billion transmission project planned to snake through 235 kilometres of Victorian farmland: VNI West.

For three years the shadow of this planned behemoth has loomed large over regional people’s lives, even if they support the project or aren’t farmers themselves.

“I can’t go to the supermarket or my kids’ swimming lessons without either seeing affected landowners or people in that community, and they’ll talk about it if they see you,” Hide says.

The rollout of VNI West drew criticism for being short on answers when the Australian Energy Market Operator first revealed its preferred route for the transmission project.

Hide says anger and distrust ultimately filled this knowledge vacuum, to the point where people became afraid to talk openly about the project for fear of offending one another.

In November, state government agency VicGrid assumed responsibility for planning transmission and renewable energy zones.

VicGrid chief executive Alistair Parker says the government established the agency after recognising national arrangements for renewable infrastructure had not served communities well.

VicGrid has introduced new guidelines, which Parker says will ensure communities in renewable energy zones are treated respectfully.

Some nondisclosure agreements for landholders hosting renewable infrastructure will be scrapped. Previously, these contracts banned property owners from discussing their financial payouts with neighbours.

Parker says 40 per cent of the 220 property owners along the VNI easement have allowed VicGrid access to their land under voluntary agreement.

He expects compulsory easement acquisition will only be necessary for 2 per cent or 3 per cent of property owners once the process concludes, based on experience elsewhere.

“So it doesn’t take the land off people, it just creates an easement across the land,” Parker says.

He insists VicGrid now has better decommissioning processes in place when renewable infrastructure reaches its end of life. And he says VicGrid is also trying to better share information about renewable projects with communities.

“We’ll come and talk to anybody about any aspect of this whenever it suits them,” he says.

But Hide remains pessimistic about VicGrid’s attempts to make amends. “I think the damage has been done,” she says.

The most recent community reference group meeting was abandoned after dozens of anti-transmission line protesters gatecrashed with signs and chants. In one video of the confrontation, a man can be heard saying: “You could have done this five years ago, and you didn’t bother.”

A generally negative sentiment bubbling in regional Victoria has emerged clearly in opinion polls.

The Age’s Resolve Political Monitor, which surveyed 1652 Victorians in April, May and June, found 46 per cent of regional and rural Victorians expect their personal outlook to worsen, compared with 32 per cent of respondents in Melbourne.

Similarly, 51 per cent of rural and regional Victorians expect the state outlook to worsen, whereas 38 per cent of Melburnians responded the same way.

Resolve founder Jim Reed says cost of living is the most pressing concern uniting Melburnians and regional Victorians. But now rising anger in the regions is flowing through to increased support for One Nation: according to polling, Hanson’s party has a primary vote of 31 per cent in the regions, compared with 19 per cent in Melbourne.

Reed says voters are drawn to the One Nation leader’s unvarnished image and plain speaking style. Hanson’s decision to accept a plane from billionaire Gina Rinehart seemingly mattered little to her supporters.

“They are willing to forgive her quite a great deal in terms of her candidates’ behaviour and getting airplanes because she seems to stand for them,” Reed says.

Reed says critics once dismissed One Nation’s supporters as grumpy, old white men. But One Nation is increasingly drawing supporters from every demographic group. That includes, crucially, women aged between 30 and 50.

“Once you’ve won that group you tend to get a snowball effect,” the pollster says.

Natasha Miller is in that group. The fifth-generation Mildura resident already had something in common with Hanson, as the owner of a fast-food shop. But after years of watching transport and health issues in her community persist largely unabated, she’s now considering voting for One Nation.

And Miller knows she’s not alone.

“I have customers who have told me they will be voting One Nation,” she says, even though the party is yet to announce its candidates for November’s election.

“I think government needs a shake-up, and if One Nation can at least do that – get some different ideas and different people in there – then that’s what I’m hoping for.”

Miller’s experiences speak to the growing resentment for the extent to which decisions made in Melbourne affect regional Victorians’ lives.

COVID and the associated lockdowns were a turning point for her. Miller spent hours navigating government bureaucracy so she and her staff could keep working, while watching jealously as, just over the border, regional NSW lived in relative normality.

Natasha Miller is considering a vote for One Nation for the first time.

Natasha Miller is considering a vote for One Nation for the first time. Ian McKenzie

Four years on, Miller is serving one-third of the customer base she had before the lockdowns.

“Everybody is talking about how slow business is – tradies tell me they’re waiting for the phone to ring,” she says. “We have not recovered at all, not even close.”

In response to questions about sentiment in the regions, a government spokeswoman lists a raft of commitments. Her response ranges from 68,000 energy jobs across the state to $1.04 billion on roads, including 70 per cent for regional Victoria.

“Only Labor will deliver cheaper power for all Victorians and $18 billion in wages for regional Victorian workers through our renewable energy transition,” the spokesperson says.

‘You can go to the emergency department, but why would you with a sore throat?"

Alex Fein, research and intelligence principal at polling firm Redbridge, says regional Victoria is somewhat more susceptible to anti-establishment and populist sentiment than Melbourne.

She believes social media also allows populist messages to be spread easily throughout the regions, where residents often face greater economic challenges and less access to services than their city counterparts.

The conservative Sky News now broadcasts for free in regional Victoria and its evening hosts often invite Hanson on air for interviews. Meanwhile, television audiences for the ABC, which is required to be politically neutral, are declining.

“Whatever is really difficult everywhere in Australia is doubly so in regional areas,” Fein says.

“They have to drive longer distances and their services are strained. The cracks are wider to begin with.”

A report by the OECD released in January supports the assertion that regional communities confront steep financial hurdles. It found Australians have experienced a marked decline in disposable incomes while inflation surged and mortgages soared.

A series of major shocks have battered the Australian economy: the COVID-19 pandemic, energy and food price spikes due to war in Ukraine, and sharp interest rate rises.

These economic blows hit the regions particularly hard. Furthermore, the OECD report said the concentration of house price gains in capital cities meant the economic disparity between urban and rural areas widened.

Ama Cooke sees these challenges firsthand. She runs a newsletter for her community in Penshurst, just south of the Grampians. Like Miller, she points to myriad reasons why residents of rural Victoria feel let down by the political class.

“I think people are sick of being lied to,” she says.

When pressed to identify the most urgent problems in her community, Cooke nominates the shortage of doctors and the poor state of rural roads.

The paucity of health services in the region means it can take up to three months to secure a doctor’s appointment.

“You can go to the emergency department, but why would you with a sore throat?”

Cooke’s priorities for change are entwined. The lack of health services force residents to drive long distances for medical attention. But deep and numerous potholes pose a daily danger to rural residents who have no option but to drive.

“Why can’t they do decent repairs instead of a quarter-inch layer of tar and pretending that’s OK?” she says.

Harlen Black is regularly called out to stranded drivers whose cars are damaged by potholes.

Harlen Black is regularly called out to stranded drivers whose cars are damaged by potholes. Justin McManus

In Benalla, tow company owner Harlen Black is well acquainted with potholes. His team is regularly called out to motorbikes and cars damaged by the road surface on the Midland Highway and Hume Freeway.

Three weeks ago, his crews were called to a pothole about 70 centimetres long and several inches deep near a bridge on the Hume. It had damaged eight cars.

“Most of them had the wheel or the rim itself destroyed, so it’s a fairly big pothole to do that,” Black says.

He says the potholes are a huge financial and mental burden for the drivers whose vehicles were damaged, especially given many gave up car insurance due to the cost of living, which forced them to cover the entire cost of repairs.

“They’re very, very frustrated,” Black says. “You just want to have good roads, and we don’t at the moment.”

During the week, five cars lost tyres to a metre-wide pothole on the Hume north of Seymour, and Annabelle Cleeland, the Nationals MP representing the area, said her office had received almost 100 reports from people with road-damaged vehicles.

Just another week on regional roads.

For James Knight in Mortlake, the tensions around renewable energy, the government’s attempts to levy volunteer firefighters and the poor state of roads point to a deeper frustration that regional communities are feeling viscerally

When they’re not being overlooked, they feel looked down upon.

Knight and Mifsud have both raised concerns about the impact of renewables on their community.

Knight and Mifsud have both raised concerns about the impact of renewables on their community. Jason South

“We are not banjo-playing dimwits,” Knight says. “There are some very educated and smart people out here.”

Should regional voters unite to punish the political establishment in November’s election, the consequences may ripple well beyond the country roads and farms to impact all Victorians. That includes the city dwellers too.

Liberal frontbencher Dan Tehan says a coalition with One Nation is not part of party discussions, amid a rise in the minor party's popularity.

Mr Tehan has distanced himself from remarks by Liberal Party president Tony Abbott, who linked migration to the "diluting" of Anglo-Celtic culture.

Politicians will gauge the popularity of One Nation in their seats as they return to their electorates for the mid-winter break.

Victorian Liberal MP Moira Deeming has told colleagues she regrets the damage her latest legal action against the party is causing, but claims she is trying to avoid its “self-destruction” by challenging the internal push to revoke her election candidacy.

The Liberal state executive was due to meet on Friday night to decide whether to remove Deeming as their candidate for the November election after she refused to apologise for an unsubstantiated assault allegation against former party leader Matthew Guy.

But Deeming launched urgent legal action in the Supreme Court to stop the meeting going ahead on the basis they had denied her “natural justice”.

During a brief hearing on Friday, lawyers for state Liberal president Brian Loughnane provided an undertaking that the party would not take any further action on Deeming’s position as its No.1 candidate for the Western Metropolitan upper house region until the legal challenge was resolved.

It has been set down for a one-day trial on 17 July.

Liberal leader Jess Wilson refused to answer questions about the matter at a press conference on Saturday morning, saying she could not comment while it was before the courts.

In a text message to colleagues on Friday night and seen by this masthead, Deeming acknowledged the court case’s negative impact.

“I deeply grieve it and regret it. I am doing my best to fix it,” she wrote.

“It may not appear so to you right now, but my actions today were designed to secure the reprieve needed to avoid a slip into self-destruction, and mediate this out of existence for all our sakes.”

In a sign that the dispute could be resolved before returning to court, Deeming said she was seeking to settle the issue with the party, but also defended her allegations against Guy.

“I’m not above helping the party save face – but it is not true that I made a deliberate or reckless false allegation,” she said.

“I believe what we need are formal, objective and fair internal processes. Because our relationships are so strained, it’s a strange environment and it’s the only clear way forward.”

The furore began when Deeming accused Guy, a former Liberal leader and parliamentary colleague, of assault, including an unfounded claim that he put her in a headlock at an event in May.

CCTV footage from inside the Macedonian community event instead showed an innocuous interaction in which Guy briefly put his arm on Deeming’s shoulder as the pair leaned forward to hear one another in a crowded room. In mid-June, Deeming made a complaint to police, which was closed without charge.

Guy demanded an apology, as did Wilson on his behalf, but this was refused by Deeming.

Her text message did little to soothe MPs on Saturday who were outraged by the damage Deeming was inflicting.

“Everyone can now see Moira for who she is,” said a senior Liberal MP, who requested anonymity to speak frankly.

“The sooner she’s out of the Liberal Party and parliament the better”.

Deeming had previously successfully sued former Liberal leader John Pesutto for defamation after he sought to suspend her from the party over her attendance at a Let Women Speak rally in March, 2023, which was attended by Neo-Nazis.

In that case, the embattled MP had the financial backing of NSW property developer Hilton Grugeon.

Grugeon told this masthead on Saturday that he was not financially involved in Deeming’s latest court case.

“But whatever help Moira needs, it’s there and she knows it. I’m heartened there are people now that are happy to be helping her too,” he said.

Despite the ongoing ructions within the state Liberals, Wilson said on Saturday her team was “focused on the election this year and delivering that fresh start for Victoria”.