8 September 2021: Liberals Take Back Matthew Guy

Yesterday, 7 September 2021, the Victorian Liberal Party removed Michael O’Brien as leader, reinstalling Matthew Guy.

The Victorian Liberal Party is currently in opposition and represents the conservative party in Victoria. They experienced a significant defeat at the last 2018 election. 

Matthew Guy acknowledged how hard it is to get air time for any opposition leader during a pandemic. 

ABC News’ Victorian state political reporter Richard Willingham gives us a hint as to what they leadership change might mean for sex workers. In his article, Willingham argues that ‘Matthew Guy is selling hope. His party needs it as much as Victoria does.’ Victoria has endured half a dozen coronavirus lockdowns, businesses have been ruined and people fear for the health of their loved ones and the virus continues to circulate in the community. The pandemic has indeed shown we all need hope. But it’s also shown us that fear also works in mobilising people. Look at the rise of the anti-vaccine movement, and bizarre Q-Anon conspiracy theories. 

Time and time again Victoria has seen individuals, groups and churches try to turn sex work into a wedge issue, fueling moral panic via fear based campaigns. We can only hope that the Victorian Liberal Party, keen to regain relevance, won’t try to politicise sex work via an irrational moral panic campaign about ‘sex work in the suburbs’.