The most controversial figure in the Victorian Liberal Party, Marcus Bastiaan, had his audience enthralled as he thundered about the need for change.
Radiating confidence, and with his past as a bellicose Brighton Grammar debater on display, Bastiaan told his Sydney listeners that the Liberals had been overrun by "lobbyists, political staffers or people who have worked in government the entirety of their careers".
Play Video Don't Play
Play Video Don't Play
Previous slide Next slide
27-year-old Marcus Bastiaan and his outspoken partner Stephanie Ross have torn like a tornado through the Liberals' Victorian branch, aligning with figures such as Michael Kroger along the way.
Play Video Don't Play
One of Melbourne's most notorious mafia figures faces prison and will likely be deported after an old friend he violently tried to extort turned against him.
Play Video Don't Play
CCTV footage shows two black vehicles speeding around a corner near a car park. Courtesy Echo Taskforce detectives.
Play Video Don't Play
Possible getaway car used by one of the two suspects wanted over an armed robbery at an Elsternwick jewellery store in September.
Play Video Don't Play
Virtual reality technology like this will feature in the TAC's new traffic school, dubbed a Road Safety Education Complex, at Melbourne Museum.
Play Video Don't Play
A giant archangel is set to walk the streets of White Night, sending messages of love, understanding and compassion.
Play Video Don't Play
A woman has been freed from a mangled car after a multi-vehicle smash that left two others injured and shut down three lanes of peak-hour inbound traffic on the Monash Freeway on Wednesday morning.
27-year-old Marcus Bastiaan and his outspoken partner Stephanie Ross have torn like a tornado through the Liberals' Victorian branch, aligning with figures such as Michael Kroger along the way.
As Tony Abbott watched at the Octoberforum organised by figures from the Liberals' right wing, Bastiaan said the future of the party founded by Menzies lay in reconnecting with abase "let down by our party's failure to represent them".
Bastiaan fashions himself as the Liberals' new great hope, one of the few in party ranks capable of re-energising disenchanted members by thrusting the party further to the right. Bastiaanalso wants to sweep out state MPs he regards as dead wood. The handsome, wilful 27-year-old has torn like a tornado through the Liberals' Victorian branch, aligning with figures such as Michael Kroger along the way.
As one senior supporter says: "The Liberal party at a state level is a gentlemen's club, Marcus is a brutal operator. Labor are cutthroat, so are the Greens. We need to get tougher; we have to sharpen our spears."
Not everyone is happy. Far from it.
Some senior Victorian Liberals say Bastiaan's campaign to push the party to the right is a Trojan horse. His ultimate mission, critics say, is building an empire while undermining Matthew Guy and Malcolm Turnbull.
More damaging are claims of unethical tactics. His enemies in the party and there are many point to allegedly rampant branch-stacking aimed solely at delivering long-term power and control to the Bastiaan group.
Fairfax Media can reveal that senior party figures are overseeing a confidential vetting committee into Bastiaan'salleged branch-stacking aimed at removing non-genuine members and curtailing his influence. There are also claims that Bastiaan is an ideological wind-sock, prepared to point whatever way the political windsblow.
On Saturday, his partner, ultra-conservative political aspirant Stephanie Ross, 25 -who believes that women who have been raped should be denied abortions-will challenge the oldest man in state parliament, 65-year-old Gary Blackwood, for the safe Warragul-based seat of Narracan. Blackwoodwon Narracan from Labor in 2006 and turned it into a safe seat.
If Ross gets up, it will be the second Bastiaan group figure to win, with James Newbury being pre-selected earlier this year in the seat of Brighton, held by outgoing MP Louise Asher.
Like her partner, Ross believes that too many state MPs are unskilled and out of date. Bastiaan's allies point to the fact that Labor has been in state government for all but four years since 1999, and the Baillieu-Napthine government lasted just one term.
Bastiaan's use of social conservatives to build hisbase have many scared about the damage to the Liberal brand in progressively minded Victoria, with concerns the Bastiaan group's insurgencyis imperillingGuy's hopes of becoming the next premier.
"Theirplan is for Guy to lose the next election and then take over. Guy is furious," says one senior Liberal.
The divisions are coming at a testing time for the party in Victoria.
In an unrelated development, a internal financial dispute has seen business community supremo and fundraising vehicle chairman Hugh Morgan withholding $500,000 from the state branch.
In an extraordinary letter to president Michael Kroger, Mr Morgan says the board of Cormack foundation has identified "fundamental gaps" in the branch's governance.
The governance dispute and the divisions sparked by Bastiaan are spot fires that insiders say risk destabilising the party at a time when the focus should be on exploiting Premier Daniel Andrews' bumpy start to the year.
"We should be focusing on Labor rather than obsessingabout our own internal problems," says an MP.
Twenty-five-year-old Ross hails from a conservative Catholic Church in West Gippsland and has made a name for herself campaigning against abortion.
As the preselection date has drawn closer, so has pressure on her to withdraw from those in the party because of the damage she is causing.
Critics highlight her lack of political, business or life experience. Like Bastiaan,she claims to be focused on returning the party to its members and challenging a parliamentary team that has abandoned its values and lost touch.
To her supporter base, which includes a group from the St Thomas Aquinas community, she has ralliedagainst the Safe Schools program "that is teaching radical gender theory and warped graphic sex education centred around promiscuity".
She has warned Gippsland locals that Australia was "seeing the destruction of religious freedom, free speech, a push towards gay marriage (which won't stop there!) and euthanasia".
"There is a state/nation-wide push to bring conservative politics back into fashion! People like Corey [sic] Bernardi in SA, Andrew Hastie in WA, George Christensen in Qldand Kevin Andrews in Vicare all fighting and need our backing."
Last year, Ross hosted a gala fundraiser for conservative MP Kevin Andrews where the main attraction was former PM Tony Abbott. The Bulleen dinner featured a latin grace and a rendition of God Save the Queen.
She, like her partner Bastiaan, attack Guy's parliamentary team. Most recently, she lashed out at the Coalition's decision to support the Andrews' government ban on fracking and conventional gas exploration.
The Bastiaan camp is privately talking down Ross's chances, perhaps mindful that many senior Liberals are running a furious behind-the-scenes campaign to deny her the prize, fearing Bastiaan would use it as proof positive of his theory that the party's future lies in arresting the decline in membership by proselytising views that resonate with a disaffected base.
But the challenge has sparked fears in the party establishment, with Guy throwing his weight behind Blackwood, pledging a new Warragul hospital (an announcement that would normally be reserved for the election campaign). MPs are lobbying preselectors and the Hawthorn-based shadow Attorney-General John Pesutto will serve as Blackwood's scrutineer.
Bastiaan's ascension from just another wannabe glad-handingoldies at branch meetings to a figure of intense discussion and intrigue across the party has included a familiar rite of passage for many Victorian political aspirants an alliance with veteran Liberal king-maker Michael Kroger.
A federal cabinet member told Fairfax Media that Kroger, who is still regarded as a "political animal of real substance" even by his enemies, believed Bastiaan (currently on the state's powerful administrative committee) would help entrench the veteran's power, not least due to Bastiaan's membership recruiting prowess.
If this is so, Kroger was only half right.
Bastiaan has excelled at recruiting members which equate to votes during key party battles, including those that decide pre-selection but appears not to be wedded to Kroger. Bastiaan is forging his own path, with a focus on seizing greater control at state council.
"It's like Frankenstein's monster. Kroger has lost control," says an observer.
A three-time university dropout, Bastiaan got into business with the aid of his father, dabbling in an antiques dealership while at university, before moving into a software design business.
He nowspends his time leaping betweenan e-commerce start-upandpolitics.
His party operation is under close scrutiny. In the seats held by former treasurer Kim Wells and shadow frontbenchers Nick Wakeling and Heidi Victoria, a vetting committee has been formed to scrutinise the surge in memberships in Melbourne's east that began in the middle of last year but have recently tapered off.
A well-placed source says the committee has identified a small number of members who say they did not pay their party fees or sign the necessary forms. There are many more cases of new members who have no interest in the party beyond casting votes when needed. The vetting committee's work has led to several prospective members being blocked.
The powerful party administrative committee, of which Bastiaan is a member, is aware of branch-stacking claims but has not conducted a formal audit.
With just 12,500 members, many of them "ageing", Kroger has on several occasions publicly praised Bastiaan's work to recruit fresh blood, despite the allegations of branch stacking.
Another supporter, state partyofficer Paul Mitchell, says attacks on Bastiaan are factionally driven.
"Marcus has not just talked about the membership crisis in the Liberal Party, he has gone out and done something about it and the overwhelming majority of party members respect and admire that," he said.
Bastiaan appears to have built his base by making use of membership discounts provided to students and couples. Ultra-conservative churches have also provided a fertile recruiting ground.
"I've had people from different churches approach me and say I've had Marcus ask me to join up. I've got nothing against people who go to church,but this is a blatant stack," says a Liberal MP.
A legitimate recruiter aligned with Bastiaan is medical doctor Ivan Stratov, who once ran for the Family First Party.
A prominent member of the Mormon church, Stratov won't say how many new members he has recruited (there is no suggestion Stratov is doing any branch stacking) or how closely he is working with Bastiaan.
But Stratov says some of Victorian's Mormons "are getting politically aware" and he's encouraging them to sign up. This is being made easier, he says, because of anger over the safe schools program, the push to legalise assisted euthanasia and other progressive policies. For instance, Dr Stratov says there is plenty of support for his views on abortions.
"I wouldn't agree with the vast majority of abortions in this country. I think there arefar too many," he says.
Supporters say concern about the growing influence of ultra-conservative church groups in the party is vastly overstated and servesas a means for underperforming MPs threatened by Bastiaan to create a sense of outrage and unease.
Others see the Bastiaan group's efforts as a genuine "insurgency" that is using conservatives as a rallying point.
Federal Assistant Treasurer and Deakin MP Michael Sukkaris another supporter of Bastiaan.
"The most important take out from the Deakin campaign was the importance of grassroots members and supporters. Modern campaigning is labour intensive andwith ageing and shrinking membership many in the party are grateful of Marcus' efforts to grow the party," Mr Sukkar said.
"I don't seriously believe anybody can seriously argue that Christians can no longer be welcome in the Liberal party."
The Bastiaan group's emergence, championing of right-wing views and divisive nature reflects the battle playing out in federal party ranks, with Abbott and other conservative warriors keeping Turnbull on something of a leash.
Next month, Abbott is the headline guest at a Liberal Party fundraiser organised by Bastiaan.Few doubt Abbott's commitment to long-held conservative values.
But several Liberal MPs say Bastiaan's efforts to portray himself as a conservative warrior is more about political opportunism than any deeply held ideal.
Some Liberals also say thatBastiaanhas privately backed same-sex marriage, a view he wasn't prepared to challenge when quizzed by Fairfax Media.
Blackwood, the group's preselection target, is himself a socially conservative MP and other arch-conservatives including the outspoken Bernie Finn are also in the Bastiaan camps sights.
The risk for Matthew Guy and the party inthe long term is that while conservative views may energise some of the Liberal base and a new generation of members, they won't win an election in Victoria.
The Narracan preselection battle will be a test of Bastiaan's success in organising numbers.
Regardless of whether Stephanie Ross wins or loses, Bastiaan is expected to be appointed vice-president of the state branch in April, a key step to realising his ambition of becoming president.
The most considered political observers say Bastiaan is not the problem.
He's simply using unreconstructed right-wing rhetoric to try to fill a void created by mainstream parties struggling to connect with cynical voters. It's this disconnect that is at the heart of the Bastiaan phenomenon and, to a far greater extent, political movements overseas.Whatever Bastiaan's fortunes, the broader politicalproblem is not going away.
"This is about the failure of mainstream parties to connect. It's not just us but Labor as well," says a senior party stalwart.
Read the rest here:
Victorian Liberals: factional fight exposes deep divisions - The Age
- Liberal Jews Deluded Themselves on Palestine - Tablet Magazine - June 27th, 2024 [June 27th, 2024]
- Western Oregon University joins the Council of Public Liberal Arts Colleges - The Journal - June 27th, 2024 [June 27th, 2024]
- Justin Trudeau digs in after Liberal drubbing in Toronto by-election - POLITICO - POLITICO - June 27th, 2024 [June 27th, 2024]
- Opinion | Fanlund, Soglin's views on housing betray liberal values - The Capital Times - June 27th, 2024 [June 27th, 2024]
- The Memo: Liberal fears build over Supreme Court Trump immunity decision - The Hill - June 27th, 2024 [June 27th, 2024]
- Byelection shocker: Is this the end of the road for Justin Trudeau's political career? - The Conversation - June 27th, 2024 [June 27th, 2024]
- Opinion: Dumping Trudeau won't save the Liberals - The Globe and Mail - June 27th, 2024 [June 27th, 2024]
- Liberal MP denies political motivation behind decision to increase amount of northern cod to be caught - CBC.ca - June 27th, 2024 [June 27th, 2024]
- Former 'Young and the Restless' star calls out Hollywood for not being 'liberal, progressive industry' - Fox News - June 27th, 2024 [June 27th, 2024]
- Liberal Arts alumna finds post-graduation success through bioethics program - Penn State University - June 27th, 2024 [June 27th, 2024]
- Voters in long-time Liberal B.C. riding react to Tories' byelection win in Toronto - News-Press Now - June 27th, 2024 [June 27th, 2024]
- Don't Be Fooled By Liberalism's Modesty - The New Republic - June 27th, 2024 [June 27th, 2024]
- What would a Reform surge do to Labour and the Liberal Democrats? Two scenarios mapped - The Conversation - June 27th, 2024 [June 27th, 2024]
- LEVY: St. Paul's voters were fed up with Liberal arrogance and elitism - True North - June 27th, 2024 [June 27th, 2024]
- How Faucis Book Has Been Covered by Liberal and Conservative Media - The New York Times - June 27th, 2024 [June 27th, 2024]
- Gaza Genocide: Origin Stories, Liberal Zionists, and the Need for a Palestine-Centered Narrative - Palestine Chronicle - June 27th, 2024 [June 27th, 2024]
- Justin Trudeau suffers shock by-election defeat in Liberal stronghold - The Telegraph - June 27th, 2024 [June 27th, 2024]
- Sea to Sky MP reacts to Liberal loss of Toronto heartland seat - Pique Newsmagazine - June 27th, 2024 [June 27th, 2024]
- 'We need to regroup,' says Liberal minister and Ontario campaign co-chair in light of byelection loss - CTV News - June 27th, 2024 [June 27th, 2024]
- Conservatives win longtime Liberal stronghold Toronto-St. Paul's in shock byelection result - CBC.ca - June 27th, 2024 [June 27th, 2024]
- Voters in long-time Liberal B.C. riding react to Tories' byelection win in Toronto - CBC.ca - June 27th, 2024 [June 27th, 2024]
- Mark Rutte: The liberal stalwart headed for NATO's top job - DW (English) - June 27th, 2024 [June 27th, 2024]
- Liberal minister tells MPs to stop 'navel-gazing,' get back to work after Toronto byelection fiasco - National Post - June 27th, 2024 [June 27th, 2024]
- Liberal minister tells MPs to 'stop the navel-gazing' and get back to work after Toronto byelection loss - MSN - June 27th, 2024 [June 27th, 2024]
- Opinion: Regardless of leader, the Liberals are at risk of a worse fate after Toronto-St. Paul's by-election - The Globe and Mail - June 27th, 2024 [June 27th, 2024]
- Bill Maher Nukes Stupid Liberal Ideas During Incredible Rant: VIDEO - Outkick - June 27th, 2024 [June 27th, 2024]
- Conservatives take Toronto-St. Paul's riding in major upset for Liberals - The Globe and Mail - June 27th, 2024 [June 27th, 2024]
- Conservatives win longtime Liberal stronghold of Toronto-St. Paul's - Toronto Sun - June 27th, 2024 [June 27th, 2024]
- For opposing genocide, Bowman is framed as antisemitic by liberal Zionists - Mondoweiss - June 27th, 2024 [June 27th, 2024]
- Opinion | Whats Stopping Liberals From Having Kids? - The New York Times - June 11th, 2024 [June 11th, 2024]
- What went wrong for the EU election-losing Greens and Liberals? - Euronews - June 11th, 2024 [June 11th, 2024]
- Increase in Liberal Views Brings Ideological Parity on Social Issues - Gallup.com - June 11th, 2024 [June 11th, 2024]
- Donald Trump Calls Taylor Swift Unusually Beautiful, Questions Whether Her Liberal Views Are An Act - Billboard - June 11th, 2024 [June 11th, 2024]
- Liberal Media Scream: The View says black people not allowed to leave the Democratic plantation - Washington Examiner - June 11th, 2024 [June 11th, 2024]
- Trump Wonders If Taylor Swift Is Just Pretending To Be Liberal - HuffPost - June 11th, 2024 [June 11th, 2024]
- 'Is That Just An Act?' Trump Questions 'Unusually Beautiful' Taylor Swift's Liberal Views - International Business Times - June 11th, 2024 [June 11th, 2024]
- Liberal columnist warns that having a fitness routine turns you into a 'right-wing jerk' - Fox News - June 11th, 2024 [June 11th, 2024]
- Vote liberal in the 2024 European elections! - ALDE Party - June 11th, 2024 [June 11th, 2024]
- Trump Says Taylor Swift Is 'Unusually Beautiful,' Bemoans Her Being Liberal - TMZ - June 11th, 2024 [June 11th, 2024]
- Opinion: The Liberal government's response to foreign interference is UltraBasic - The Globe and Mail - June 11th, 2024 [June 11th, 2024]
- Donald Trump on Taylor Swift: 'Unusually Beautiful' But 'Liberal' - Jezebel - June 11th, 2024 [June 11th, 2024]
- Trump Questions Whether 'Unusually Beautiful' Taylor Swift Is 'Legitimately Liberal' - The Daily Wire - June 11th, 2024 [June 11th, 2024]
- Trump: 'Beautiful' Taylor Swift may not be the liberal she claims - The Times - June 11th, 2024 [June 11th, 2024]
- The Waning Patriotism of Modern Liberals: A Call to Rediscover National Pride - ASEAN NOW - June 11th, 2024 [June 11th, 2024]
- Conservative mom who fled to Idaho to escape liberal politics claims family was BULLIED for being from Califor - Daily Mail - June 11th, 2024 [June 11th, 2024]
- Donald Trump Wonders if Taylor Swift Being a Liberal Is 'Just an Act' - PopCrush - June 11th, 2024 [June 11th, 2024]
- Fox News Anchor Comes Unglued, Berates 'Dumb' Liberal Colleague - The Daily Beast - April 27th, 2024 [April 27th, 2024]
- Mathew Chandy '24, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences - UConn Today - University of Connecticut - April 27th, 2024 [April 27th, 2024]
- Will No One Rid Me Of These Meddlesome -Isms: Thinking and Rethinking Liberalism - Front Porch Republic - April 27th, 2024 [April 27th, 2024]
- Why market demand doesn't capture the value of the liberal arts | Letters - Tampa Bay Times - April 27th, 2024 [April 27th, 2024]
- See what the students were wearing for the School of Liberal Studies at Savannah High prom - Savannah Morning News - April 27th, 2024 [April 27th, 2024]
- Is a $330000 liberal arts education still 'worth it?' - Los Angeles Loyolan - April 27th, 2024 [April 27th, 2024]
- Judge installed by liberal Democrats over centrist Hochul pick responsible for Harvey Weinstein ruling - New York Post - April 27th, 2024 [April 27th, 2024]
- Liberal Cities, Conservative Towns Seek Supreme Court's Help on Homelessness - The Wall Street Journal - April 27th, 2024 [April 27th, 2024]
- Luke Grimes on Yellowstones liberal critics: A lot of people see a cowboy hat and think, thats not for me - The Independent - April 27th, 2024 [April 27th, 2024]
- Liberal pundits really do have weekly meetings to 'shape' message on Trump - Washington Times - April 27th, 2024 [April 27th, 2024]
- Trump slams 'Bidenomics' ahead of court, claims to have a 'good chance' of winning liberal state - Fox News - April 27th, 2024 [April 27th, 2024]
- Ones a Conservative, Ones a Liberal. Heres Their Secret to Friendship. - InsideHook - April 27th, 2024 [April 27th, 2024]
- Bill Cotterell: What? NPR is liberal? Say it ain't so - Tallahassee Democrat - April 27th, 2024 [April 27th, 2024]
- Orban: Hungary is island in the European progressive liberal ocean - bne IntelliNews - April 27th, 2024 [April 27th, 2024]
- NY Times keeps spotlight on NPR crisis on heels of Uri Berliner blowing whistle on liberal bias - Fox News - April 27th, 2024 [April 27th, 2024]
- CPAC Hungary: ex Polish PM Morawiecki warns of "destructive ideas of liberal elites" - Notes From Poland - April 27th, 2024 [April 27th, 2024]
- The biggest threat to freedom in the West is liberalism itself - The New Statesman - April 27th, 2024 [April 27th, 2024]
- Letter: NPR Editor Berliner reveals liberal bias of network - Arizona Daily Star - April 27th, 2024 [April 27th, 2024]
- Chicago native says residents livid over liberal mayor's new migrant funding, ready to vote for Trump - Fox News - April 27th, 2024 [April 27th, 2024]
- Ontario Liberal leader says Dresden landfill project could be nixed with 'stroke of a pen' - The Chatham Daily News - April 27th, 2024 [April 27th, 2024]
- Opinion: The Liberals' immigration policies have accomplished the opposite of what was intended - The Globe and Mail - April 27th, 2024 [April 27th, 2024]
- At Issue | Was the Liberal budget a bust with Canadians? - CBC.ca - April 27th, 2024 [April 27th, 2024]
- Have the Liberal Arts Gone Conservative? - The New Yorker - March 12th, 2024 [March 12th, 2024]
- Letters to the Editor: 'I see myself in Katie Britt' what liberal critics missed in the senator's response - Los Angeles Times - March 12th, 2024 [March 12th, 2024]
- Even when it criticizes Israel, the liberal world is not against us - opinion - The Jerusalem Post - March 12th, 2024 [March 12th, 2024]
- Former Trump Aide Alyssa Farah Griffin Becomes a Liberal Favorite - The New York Times - March 12th, 2024 [March 12th, 2024]
- Renowned author, liberal arts proponent to deliver annual Lester Lectures - Mercer University - March 12th, 2024 [March 12th, 2024]
- NYU to Host Zaheer Ali at the Annual Liberal Studies Student Research ColloquiumApril 5 - NYU - March 12th, 2024 [March 12th, 2024]
- Power to the Neighborhoods!: New York City Growth Politics, Neighborhood Liberalism, and the Origins of the ... - Joint Center for Housing Studies - March 12th, 2024 [March 12th, 2024]
- Canada's Conservatives back NDP-Liberal anti-scab legislation that undermines the right to strike - WSWS - March 12th, 2024 [March 12th, 2024]
- The Surprising Left-Right Alliance That Wants More Apartments in Suburbs - The New York Times - March 12th, 2024 [March 12th, 2024]
- PARKER: Clarence Thomas, liberal racism and the ongoing denigration of Black conservatives - Kankakee Daily Journal - March 12th, 2024 [March 12th, 2024]
- Liberal Media Scream: Hollywoods freaks over Trump - Washington Examiner - March 12th, 2024 [March 12th, 2024]
- Why liberals failed in the fight against antisemitism - JNS.org - March 12th, 2024 [March 12th, 2024]