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March 6th, 2013 
David Schulberg the 3rd
DEPUTY Premier Peter Ryan says Premier Ted Baillieu is “made for the job” after Victorian MP Geoff Shaw has quit the Liberal Party.
It is believed that backbencher Mr Shaw lost confidence in the Victorian Premier Ted Baillieu following his handling of the secret police tapes revealed by the Herald Sun on Monday.
Mr Ryan, who fronted the media this afternoon said the police crisis tapes were in the hands of IBAC, who will make a decision in due course.
Mr Ryan said Mr Baillieu was “made for the job” amid speculation around leadership.
He said he and Simon Overland had a strong working relationship and that he would give evidence to IBAC if requested.
Emerging from a special Coalition party room meeting this morning, Mr Baillieu said the Coalition will continue to govern.
“I can tell you as I am sure you are aware Geoff Shaw has resigned as a member or the parliamentary Liberal party,” Mr Baillieu said.
“That means that he will, I understand, I haven’t spoken to him but others have, that he will sit on the cross benches.
“He has, as I understand, indicated that he may not be here for today… but that aside, the government will continue to govern and we will continue to govern decisively in Coalition and we are looking forward to doing just that.”
Mr Baillieu said he was confident the parliament would continue to be workable and said he hasn’t spoken to the Governor.
Ted Baillieu faces the media in Spring St today. Picture: Alex Coppel
“I’m not going to get into the details of what might or might not happen, what I can tell you is that we are committed, we have a very strong forthcoming agenda and we have been able to govern with a narrow margin and I believe we can continue to govern and we will continue to govern,” he said.
Mr Baillieu said Mr Shaw hadn’t given any reasons for his departure.
“He has provided us with a very short letter and I think in that letter he indicates he wants to do this in the interest of his electors,” he said.
Opposition Leader Daniel Andrews said the government was in crisis.
“There is no one in the Baillieu Government today thinking about jobs, or hospitals or transport or schools, this is a government that has stopped governing,” he said.
“The Premier is not so much running a government as running a complete and utter circus, it’d be funny if it weren’t so serious.”
Liberal Party colleagues yesterday admitted they were also “despairing” over the police crisis tapes ordeal.
The tapes, which were secretly recorded, and later obtained by the Herald Sun revealed a secret payout and job help for a former adviser that forced Mr Baillieu to refer to his chief of staff and party boss to IBAC.
In May, the Sunday Herald Sun revealed claims Mr Shaw’s parliamentary car had been used to frequently undertake long-distance deliveries for his private business.
Mr Shaw’s departure leaves the Baillieu Government with a one seat majority.
The government will be forced to form a minority government or call an election.
Meanwhile, Liberal MPs have emerged from crisis talks aimed at determining the fate of Mr Baillieu, who told the Herald Sun inside Spring St today he was “getting on with governing”.
When asked if he was confident he still had the support of the party room, the Premier repeated the line: “We are getting on with the business of governing.”
It is understood several meetings – including a Coalition gathering at 1pm – were called to discuss the future of the government.
Earlier today, Mr Ballieu distanced himself from the police tapes crisis, saying he had complete confidence in the pair involved – his chief of staff Tony Nutt and Liberal Party chief Damian Mantach.
“I don’t know, and I can’t make assumptions about the provenance or the origin of this material,” Mr Baillieu said on Neil Mitchell’s program on 3AW today.
“Nor do I know if this material has been previously supplied to the OPI or Ombudsman.
“The successor is IBAC and it is appropriate that they examine this material and assess whether any further consideration is required.”
Geoff Shaw in Parliament. Picture: Norm Oorloff
However, the Premier said he had referred the tapes to the Independent Broad-based Anti-Corruption Commission.
“I provided the information to IBAC, I’ve asked them to assess whether the matter requires further consideration,” he said.
“IBAC has power to refer matters to other bodies, including Victoria Police and the ombudsman, as it seems fit.”
He said he had not asked Mr Nutt to stand down, nor had he offered to stand aside while IBAC investigated the matter.
“I don’t agree with standing down Tony Nutt,” he said.
Mr Baillieu said he had now read “slabs” of the transcripts, published on the heraldsun.com.au on Monday.
The Premier said he agreed that a third person on the tapes, Police Minister Peter Ryan’s former adviser Tristan Weston, had gone through a difficult time personally and that his position had became untenable due to the OPI report.
The lack of action by the leaders of the Coalition has been slammed by the State Opposition, who accuse Mr Baillieu of running a “complete circus”.
In Parliament, the Deputy Premier stood by his original testimony to the OPI over the police command crisis – which has been disputed in the secret tapes – saying it was Mr Weston who was found to be at fault.
Labor leader Daniel Andrews today. Picture: Alex Coppel
Mr Ryan said Mr Weston had been severely censored or “excoriated” by the OPI.
“I, at all times, co-operated very appropriately with the Office of Police Integrity. At all times I have told the absolute truth,” Mr Ryan told parliament.
During Mr Ryan’s attack on Mr Weston, Mr Ryan’s former parliamentary secretary, Bill Tilley, was comforted by Liberal MP Christine Fyffe.
– with James Campbell, Annika Smethurst and Michelle Ainsworth
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