Just a day after being installed as Victoria’s new Opposition Leader, Jess Wilson has faced her first wave of personal attacks, with a senior Labor minister labelling her “breathtakingly inexperienced.”
The criticism marks a turbulent start to her leadership as both sides of politics prepare for a high-stakes parliamentary session leading into next year’s election cycle.
Wilson began the day with a formal handover meeting with outgoing leader Brad Battin. Party insiders described the encounter as “friendly,” noting that Battin and his team immediately agreed to hand over resources and assist with the transition. “Brad is not the kind to hold a grudge and his focus is on the party,” one Liberal figure said.
Meanwhile, Premier Jacinta Allan spent the morning promoting her latest law-and-order initiative in Sunshine, announcing a new “Violence Reduction Unit” to operate in Victorian schools. Allan rejected suggestions that the next state election will become a referendum on economic management, insisting: “We have a strong, thriving economy here in Victoria.”
Back at Parliament, Wilson pressed ahead with a sharpened crime message. She met with Queensland father Brett Beasley—whose teenage son Jack was fatally stabbed—to champion “Jack’s Law,” a key Battin-era policy targeting knife crime. The strategic pivot follows Wilson’s opening attack on Tuesday, when she declared Labor’s escalating debt as her “first priority.”
Her economic criticisms intensified during Question Time on Wednesday. Wilson pressed Premier Allan over ballooning interest payments and their impact on surgical waitlists, drawing heavy fire from Deputy Premier Ben Carroll. With pointed sarcasm, Carroll congratulated Wilson for becoming the “sixth opposition leader in seven years,” as Labor continued to present the Liberal Party as divided and unstable.
Earlier, senior minister Steve Dimopoulos delivered one of the harshest blows, publicly branding Wilson—who only entered Parliament in 2022—as “breathtakingly inexperienced.”
Facing the media later in the day, Wilson announced plans to develop a new debt strategy, noting that state debt is projected to reach $194 billion by 2028–29. She declined to commit to a debt target or timeline but insisted the Coalition would outline “how to manage our debt, how to stabilise our debt and pay that debt back.”
Wilson was also quizzed about the roles of Battin and former Liberal leader John Pesutto in her future shadow cabinet, along with who would serve as shadow treasurer after she herself held the portfolio until last month’s reshuffle.
Seeking to assert authority over the party’s ideological direction, Wilson confirmed she will “pause and review” the Suburban Rail Loop, and reaffirmed her commitment to repealing Victoria’s Treaty legislation—moves intended to counter early claims she is “Labor-lite.”
Meanwhile, conservative stalwart Bev McArthur settled into her new role as Liberal upper house leader, as Labor MPs sought to brand Wilson as constrained by the party’s conservative wing.
