John Pesutto – Wikipedia

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Australian politician

John Pesutto (Italian: [pezˈutːo]; born 5 September 1970) is an Australian politician and lawyer serving as the Leader of the Opposition in Victoria, holding office as the leader of the Victorian Branch of the Liberal Party of Australia. He has been a member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) for the inner-city division of Hawthorn since 2022, and previously from 2014 to 2018.[1]

Early life and career[edit]

Pesutto studied at Catholic Regional College Traralgon from 1983–1988, and studied a Bachelor of Laws / Bachelor of Commerce at the University of Melbourne from 1989–1993. He worked as a lawyer for Littleton Hackford from 1994–1996, as an Electorate Officer for Russell Broadbent from 1996–1997, as a lawyer for Henty Jepson & Kelly from 1997–2006, as a lawyer for Phillips Fox from 2006–2009, as a self-employed consultant from 2009–2011 and Director of the Productivity and Employment Unit with the Institute of Public Affairs in 2010,[2] and in the Office of the Premier from 2011–2014 as Counsel to Denis Napthine, Chief of Staff to the Health Minister and as a Senior Advisor to Ted Baillieu.[3] During his career in private legal practice, Pesutto practised with a focus on industrial relations and employment matters, while his consultancy had a focus on advising government departments and public sector agencies on governance and performance issues.[4]

After losing his seat in the 2018 Victorian state election, Pesutto took up an honorary post in the school of government at the University of Melbourne, established his own consultancy firm called Hugo Benice Advisory offering legal work and media, government and competition advice, and maintained a presence in the media through writing columns for The Age and appearing on ABC Radio and Joy FM.[5]

Political career[edit]

Pesutto ran for Liberal preselection for Kooyong at the 2010 federal election but lost to Josh Frydenberg.

Pesutto was pre-selected as Liberal Party candidate for Hawthorn after defeating John Roskam of the Institute of Public Affairs for the position. He was successful at the 2014 state election. He was Shadow Attorney-General in Matthew Guy’s first shadow ministry.[6] He was defeated at the 2018 state election. He was a panelist on ABC on election night when he was told on live television that he had lost his seat to Labor’s John Kennedy.[7]

On 14 December 2021, John Pesutto was again endorsed as the Liberal candidate for Hawthorn at the 2022 Victorian state election.[8] Pesutto won re-election in the state election on 26 November 2022 against Labor incumbent John Kennedy and teal independent challenger Melissa Lowe on a 1.7% margin.[9] After Liberal leader Matthew Guy announced his resignation,[10] Pesutto announced his candidacy for Liberal leader.[11] Pesutto was elected leader of the Liberal Party on 8 December 2022, winning the party room ballot by one vote against Brad Battin.[12]

Under Pesutto’s leadership, in March 2023 his party considered expelling Liberal MP Moira Deeming from the party, but opted to suspend her from the party room for nine months.[13][14][15][16]

Pesutto is considered to be a moderate Liberal.[17][18][19]

Personal life[edit]

A resident of Hawthorn for over 25 years, Pesutto is married to his wife, Betty, and has three daughters.[20]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ “Hawthorn (Key Seat) – VIC Election 2022”. ABC News. Archived from the original on 1 December 2022. Retrieved 1 December 2022.
  2. ^ Moran Chartered Accountants (28 October 2010). Financial Report for the Year Ended 30 June 2010 (PDF) (Report). Archived (PDF) from the original on 18 October 2022. Retrieved 19 October 2022.
  3. ^ “Mr John Pesutto”. Re-Member: a database of all Victorian MPs since 1851. Parliament of Victoria. Retrieved 29 August 2022.
  4. ^ “Mr John Pesutto”. The University of Melbourne. The University of Melbourne. Archived from the original on 7 July 2022. Retrieved 11 June 2022.
  5. ^ Brook, Stephen. “‘Falling off a cliff’: Life after the people vote you out”. The Sydney Morning Herald. Fairfax Media. Archived from the original on 11 June 2022. Retrieved 11 June 2022.
  6. ^ “‘Why don’t we get James on the line’: John Pesutto hits back at rorting accusations”. 3AW. 30 July 2018. Archived from the original on 22 September 2018. Retrieved 24 September 2018.
  7. ^ “Victorian election TV panellist told he has lost his seat on live TV during Labor’s landslide win”. ABC News. 24 November 2018. Archived from the original on 8 December 2022. Retrieved 8 December 2022.
  8. ^ Clarke, Mitch (14 December 2021). “Pesutto on comeback trail from on-air humiliation”. Herald Sun. Retrieved 20 January 2022.
  9. ^ “John Pesutto clinches Hawthorn victory, paving way for Victorian Liberal leadership bid”. ABC News. 29 November 2022. Archived from the original on 1 December 2022. Retrieved 1 December 2022.
  10. ^ “Matthew Guy resigns as Victorian Liberal leader after election loss”. 7NEWS. 27 November 2022. Archived from the original on 1 December 2022. Retrieved 1 December 2022.
  11. ^ John Pesutto to announce Victorian Liberal Party leadership bid, Sky News Australia, 30 November 2022, archived from the original on 30 November 2022, retrieved 24 January 2023
  12. ^ “John Pesutto wins Liberal leadership in Victoria by one vote”. Australian Financial Review. 8 December 2022. Archived from the original on 9 December 2022. Retrieved 9 December 2022.
  13. ^ Kolovos, Benita (20 March 2023). “Victorian opposition leader moves to expel MP involved in anti-trans protest attended by neo-Nazis”. The Guardian. Retrieved 20 March 2023.
  14. ^ Abbott, Sumeyya Ilanbey, Broede Carmody, Lachlan (21 March 2023). “Bid to delay expulsion of Deeming fails as details of Pesutto’s motion revealed”. The Age. Retrieved 21 March 2023.
  15. ^ Kolovos, Benita (20 March 2023). “Moira Deeming vows to fight expulsion push over involvement in protest attended by neo-Nazis”. The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 21 March 2023.
  16. ^ “Liberal MP set to be expelled over role in violent Melbourne anti-trans rally”. 7NEWS. 19 March 2023. Retrieved 21 March 2023.
  17. ^ Preiss, Benjamin (8 December 2014). “Labor claims victory in blue-ribbon Liberal seat of Hawthorn”. The Age. Fairfax Media. Archived from the original on 30 October 2021. Retrieved 30 October 2021.
  18. ^ Preiss, Benjamin (5 December 2018). “The lessons that must be learnt from Pesutto’s loss”. The Age. Fairfax Media. Archived from the original on 30 October 2021. Retrieved 30 October 2021.
  19. ^ Fowler, Michael (21 March 2021). “‘Come back and lead’? Not quite, but Pesutto wants more than just a comeback”. The Age. Fairfax Media. Archived from the original on 30 October 2021. Retrieved 30 October 2021.
  20. ^ “John Pesutto”. Liberal Victoria. Liberal Party of Australia. Archived from the original on 3 June 2022. Retrieved 11 June 2022.

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