While Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews was recovering from a nasty fall down the stairs last week, prominent conservative commentator Steve Price was advocating for a new foe to take him down at the next state election.
Price took to the pages of the Herald Sun to declare that current Victorian Liberal Party Leader Michael O’Brien, had to go as he “will get steamrolled by Daniel Andrews at the next election”.
However, it’s Price’s proposed candidate that has really got people talking, with the commentator suggesting prominent Sky News host and Tony Abbot’s former Chief of Staff Peta Credlin would make an excellent new leader of the Opposition.
In his article, titled ‘Why Peta Credlin should be our next Premier’, Price detailed all the reasons the former lawyer is the right person for the job, including her age (she’s about to turn 50, which makes her “in the prime of her working life” according to Price), her university education and her time spent working in the real world outside of politics.
Price also noted that Credlin had earned her stripes working in the “most successful Federal Liberal Government in recent history, led by the legendary John Howard”.
Price said the only issue with his suggestion is that Credlin herself “probably doesn’t even want the job”.
The article has amassed 1092 comments – many vigorously backing Price’s suggestion – and is one of the masthead’s most commented-upon pieces in the last 12 months.
There was speculation in 2019 that Credlin would run for a Victorian seat, however she reportedly told sources at the time that she did not wish to make a resurgence into politics. Credlin found herself at the centre of Australia’s political scene between 2013 and 2015 when she worked as Abbott’s chief of staff and most-trusted advisor.
The pair’s close working relationship was well-documented and cemented Credlin’s status as one of the most powerful members of the Liberal Party. In fact, former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has claimed Credlin’s influence was so powerful that she was effectively running the country.
“You were really dealing with Peta, and Peta was running the country and that was obvious, and dominating Abbott,” the former prime minister told 7.30’s Leigh Sales in 2020.
Credlin’s ties to the Liberal Party date back to 2009, when she joined former Liberal leader Brenden Nelson’s team as a senior advisor. Her husband, Brian Loughnane, is the former federal director of the Liberal Party.
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