Bradley William Battin (born 12 December 1975) is an Australian politician who is currently serving as the member for Berwick. Battin served as the leader of the Victorian Liberal Party and Victorian opposition leader from December 2024 until November 2025. He has served as a member of the for Victorian Legislative Assembly since 2010, first for Gembrook from 2010 to 2022, and then Berwick after 2022.
Battin was elected to the Victorian Liberal Party leadership in a leadership spill in December 2024 caused by the leader John Pesutto losing a defamation lawsuit to Moira Deeming. Battin faced a leadership spill in November 2025 and was defeated by Jess Wilson, due to poor polling performance and several scandals.
Early life, education, and pre-political career Bradley William Battin was born on 12 December 1975 to parents Philip and Joan, and raised in the Melbourne suburbs of Harkaway and Berwick. Battin attended Harkaway Primary School and Berwick Secondary College, and left school at 15.
Out of high school, Battin worked several hospitality and customer service jobs, before joining Victoria Police in 2001. He was posted to Dandenong Police Station, and transferred to Prahran Police Station in 2005. During his time as police officer, he obtained a Diploma in Public Safety (Policing) with Victoria Police, and a Graduate Diploma in Adolescent Health and Welfare from the University of Melbourne, along with reaching the rank of Senior Constable.
In 2007, Battin left the police force and purchased a Bakers Delight franchise in Wheelers Hill with his wife, owning it for three years.
Battin has worked in several volunteer organisations, including being the president of the Clematis Country Fire Authority brigade and a fundraising chair of the Fred Hollows Foundation.
As an adult, Battin has completed a Graduate Certificate in Business and a Master in Business Administration at Victoria University.
Member of Parliament Battin was first elected as the member for Gembrook at the November 2010 state election, gaining it from Labor's Tammy Lobato on a margin of 6.8%, representing an approximately 7.5% swing in the Liberal Party's favour.
At the 2014 Victorian state election, Battin experienced a favourable distribution in his seat, with ABC News reporting that the new notional margin from the last election was 8.8%. Battin was elected solely on first preferences and had a new margin of 9.0%. After the election, Matthew Guy was elected leader of the Liberal Party, whose shadow cabinet Battin was promoted to, becoming Shadow Minister for Emergency Services and Shadow Minister for Environment.
During his time as Shadow Minister for Emergency Services, Battin made an incorrect statement to Parliament, claiming that there was a lack of "career firefighters" on the ground during the first hours of the Black Saturday bushfires. His statement was unsupported by the findings of the royal commission that investigated and reported on the events. He later backtracked his comments, saying he was only referring to a specific fire at Bunyip State Park, which was also untrue, as professional firefighters had been there three days prior. Battin later apologised for his mistake on radio and on social media. Battin attracted strong criticism from many firefighters, including Metropolitan Fire Brigade Acting Commander Mick Tisbury who also called for him to step down, saying:
He was additionally denounced by Emergency Services Minister James Merlino, who commented that "[Battin] should be ashamed of himself; there is no limit to his disgraceful comments when it comes to our hardworking firefighters".
In September 2017, after a reshuffle in Matthew Guy's ministry, Battin left the position of Shadow Minister for the Environment, becoming Victoria's first Shadow Minister for the Building Industry, while retaining the emergency services portfolio.
At the 2018 state election, Battin suffered an 8.2% swing against him to Labor's Michael Galea, being reduced to a margin of 0.8%. In the aftermath of the election, Michael O'Brien became the new opposition leader, after which he created his shadow ministry. In the new ministry, Battin kept emergency services portfolio, gained the youth justice, crime prevention, and victim support portfolios, and did not continue as the Shadow Minister for the Building Industry.
In March 2020, Battin lost the emergency services portfolio, while becoming the Shadow Minister for Roads (Metropolitan) and Shadow Minister for Road Safety and the TAC.
2021 leadership challenges
On 16 March 2021, Battin moved a spill against the leader of the Victorian Liberal Party, Michael O'Brien. According to ABC News, the spill was a result O'Brien's failure to effectively criticise the Andrews government's response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Australian Financial Review reported that Battin was relying on MPs loyal to the prior leader of the party, Matthew Guy, who were unhappy with O'Brien's leadership, to vote for himself. However, in total Battin's motion only received nine votes, to O'Brien's 22. Former Liberal premier Jeff Kennett characterised Battin's spill as "stupid" and "ill-conceived". Following his loss, Battin resigned from his shadow ministry positions, with those who supported him joining suit, after O'Brien had said he would sack anyone who voted against his leadership. After his loss, Battin said that he had "[no] regrets" for moving the spill and backed O'Brien's leadership.
In September 2021, another leadership challenge was launched against O'Brien, this time by Matthew Guy, who won, becoming Victorian Liberal leader and organising a new cabinet. In the new shadow ministry, Battin and his supporters from the front bench before the challenge returned. Battin gained back the emergency service portfolio. He also became Shadow Minister for Community Safety and Victim Support, Shadow Minister for Police, and Shadow Minister for Corrections.
2022 state and leadership elections
At the 2022 state election, a new map was used for the electorates, as per a 2021 re-distribution. In this re-distribution, the seat of Gembrook was abolished, and the seat of Berwick created, with half the voters from the former seat of Gembrook, and the other half from nearby electorates. ABC News estimated the margin of the new seat to be 1.3% based 2018 election results. Battin contested the seat and won on a margin of 4.7%, representing a notional swing of 3.4% towards him.
After the Liberal Party's loss the 2022 state election, Battin ran in the subsequent Liberal Party state leadership election after previous leader Matthew Guy resigned. He was endorsed by two of the candidates for deputy leader Ryan Smith and Richard Riordan. The contest came down to one vote, with John Pesutto, the moderate member for Hawthorn, winning with 17 votes to Battin's 16. After the election of Pesutto, Battin was offered shadow cabinet positions, eventuating in him becoming Shadow Minister for Criminal Justice Reform, while keeping the portfolio areas of police, youth justice, crime prevention and corrections. Speaking after the spill, Battin said he will "back John Pesutto 100 per cent."
Opposition leader On 11 December 2024, Liberal leader John Pesutto lost a defamation case to Moira Deeming, due to claiming she was a associated with neo-Nazis, after she organised a rally that was attended by the National Socialist Network. After the rally, on 12 May 2023, the Victorian Liberal Party voted to oust Deeming, however Battin did not support the motion, attempting to delay the vote a week with fellow MP Richard Riordan. On 21 December, The Age reported that Battin would move a spill against Pesutto and vote to re-admit Deeming, as a result of Pesutto's defamation loss. The spill motion against passed 18 votes to 10, after which Battin and MPs Chris Crewther and Jess Wilson went into a leadership contest, in which Wilson placed third. In the second round of voting Battin attained 21 votes to Crewther's seven, hence becoming Leader of the Victorian Liberal Party and Leader of the Opposition. On 7 January 2025, Battin unveiled the whole of his shadow cabinet, with former leader John Pesutto notably excluded. The Age reported that allies of Deeming were rewarded in the new cabinet with promotions.
On 8 February 2025, two by-elections took place. In Werribee, generally considered to be a Labor stronghold, with a margin of 10.9% at the 2022 election, was reduced to 0.5%, representing a 10.4% swing. In Prahran, Liberal Rachel Westaway gained the seat from the Victorian Greens, holding it on a margin of 1.5%. The results were generally considered a indictment of the Allan government, and supportive of Battin's Liberal party. Battin commented there was "a very strong message in this campaign and this election" for Labor, while Ben Carroll said voters were "loud and clear" that they "need[ed] more" from the government.
Policies As leader, Battin emphasised the issue of crime, given the rise in violent crime in the state. He focused on crime prevention and youth engagement. He advocated for strengthening police abilities so that police could scan people without a search warrant. Additionally, he introduced a "break bail, face jail" policy, along with a proposed ban on face coverings at protests and increased police powers at protests. Battin vowed that, if elected, he would have resigned if crime rates did not decrease after his first term.
Under his leadership, the Liberal Party promised, that if elected, it would only follow through with the Suburban Rail Loop project if tunneling begins.
During Battin's tenure as leader, the Liberal Party of Victoria promised, if elected, it would revoke treaty legislation passed in October 2025 by the state government. This Liberal Party, under John Pesutto, had already dropped support for the treaty after the Voice referendum was unsuccessful. Battin's decision attracted criticism from Victorian Greens leader Ellen Sandell, who accused him of sowing division.
Controversies
Luxury cruise scandal
In March 2025, Battin started a controversy when he was absent from the Parliament during the introduction of high-profile crime reform legislation by Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan. Battin claimed his week long absence was as he was visiting his parents who were impacted by Cyclone Alfred, after which it revealed that he had spent four days on the luxury cruise liner Quantum of the Seas. The scandal was compared to former Prime Minister Scott Morrison taking an overseas holiday in Hawaii during a bushfire crisis in Australia in 2019. According to The Guardian, Battin was criticised by one of his own MPs, who said "It's not on the same level as ScoMo jetting off to Hawaii during the bushfires but it's a pretty bad look". Battin later admitted that he was "not upfront" about taking a luxury cruise but that he "did not regret" his failure to appear in Parliament to take a holiday.
In a press conference, Attorney-General Sonya Kilkenny criticised Battin for his absence, saying "While the Liberal leader was living it up on a cruise last week, the Allan Labor Government was announcing Australia's toughest bail laws ever".
Firetruck speech