Georgiou wins the day
Rebel Liberal MP Petro Georgiou has won the right to retain he seat of Kooyong in Melbourne. The weekend pre-selection battle saw Petro scoop the pool with 62 out of 85 votes, while Joshua Frydenberg, backed by Foreign Minister Alexander Downer, secured just 22. Last year Petro Georgiou led a co-altiion of four Liberal MPs against the Howard Government’s policy of mandatory detention of all asylum seekers. He secured concessions that saw children released from detention and ensured that more people were placed on temporary protection visas. Fellow asylum seeker supporter Liberal MP Judy Moylan described the weekend pre-selection victory as a win for the broad church of the Liberal party. The Wire spoke to Geoffrey Hawker, political scientist at Macquarie University, to get his take.