The Discernable Interviews
Ryan Smith MP: Do the Victorian Liberals Actually Stand for Anything?
1hr 41min
14 August 2022
Ryan Smith MP was the Minister for Environment and Climate Change and Minister for Youth Affairs in Victoria between 2010 and 2014. He remains a sitting member of the Victorian Legislative Assembly as the Shadow Minister for Finance, Planning & Heritage and Suburban Recovery. He will be contesting to retain the seat of Warrandyte in the November 2022 election.
He joined Discernable to face the popular accusation that the Liberal Party ‘doesn’t stand for anything’. With no time limits and no topic limits, we asked Ryan about:
- Climate change policy
- Failures of Liberal leader Matthew Guy MP
- The Coate Inquiry into Hotel Quarantine
- The health and hospital crisis in Victoria
- The Operation Watts report into corruption inside the Labor Party
- High-taxing and high-wasting
- Election swings when people get sick of arrogant, corrupt governments
- Balancing the competing demands of Victorians
- Left wing party hypocrisy
- How the Liberals would have handled lockdowns
- The obvious weakness of Daniel Andrews
- The secret of long term Liberal governments
- The future quality of politicians
- Government contracts for small businesses
- Speed camera revenue raising in Victoria
- The stacked bureaucracy in Victoria
- The biggest weakness of Daniel Andrews: ridicule