Former Victorian Premier Jeff Kennett has apologized for calling a woman a “rude little b****” at a Liberal Party event in Melbourne on Saturday evening.
Mr Kennett was delivering the keynote speech at a gala ball for young liberals when he lashed out at the woman, saying she had interrupted him several times.
Guests at the black tie event were shocked by his outburst, with Young Liberals chairman Dean Dell’Orso apologizing.
Mr Kennett later apologized but said there were constant interruptions as he spoke.
“I apologize,” he told the newspaper Herald Sun.
“I’m not going to try to make excuses, but you understand it was in response to something that happened and I was very disappointed.”
The former prime minister said the woman had spoken to someone at her table and he asked several times for the “very distracting” chatter to stop.
Mr Kennett said that although her comments were not directed at him, she was sitting right on the doorstep where he was speaking.
Former Victorian Premier Jeff Kennett has apologized for calling a woman a ‘rude little b****’ at a Liberal Party event in Melbourne on Saturday evening
He said the woman “ignored” her request to stop interrupting and “unfortunately I made that comment which was inappropriate, but as you can imagine I was very disappointed.”
A young Liberal claimed they had previously been the victims of a tirade from Mr Kennett.
“Jeff’s penchant for verbally abusing young liberals at their own events is well-established,” they said.
They then compared it to the current internecine warfare in the Victorian Liberal Party, with leader John Pesutto being sued for defamation by former colleague Moira Deeming.
‘Jeff’s love for the sound of his own voice is matched in intensity only by his sheer desperation to support John Pesutto, lest the Victorian Party achieve electoral success – pushing his legacy, such as it is, beyond the horizon of political irrelevance. they told the Herald Sun.
Another young Liberal said Mr Kennett’s response was “disgusting” and that “the woman was standing right next to me and didn’t even intervene.”
“Others were too and she just laughed,” the woman said.
Some members called for Mr Kennett to be shown the door at the event.
Amid Pesutto’s lawsuit, Kennett has demanded Liberal MPs support the opposition leader and stop trying to undermine his leadership.
Mr Kennett later apologized but said there were constant interruptions as he spoke (Photo: Mr Kennett with then Premier Daniel Andrews in 2018)
Ms Deeming centers on comments Pesutto made about her participation in the controversial Let Women Speak rally outside state parliament in March 2023.
She claims Pesutto falsely portrayed her as a Nazi sympathizer after she spoke at the rally, which was attended by neo-Nazis.
Mr Pesutto has denied wrongdoing.
Ms Deeming has been an independent MP since being expelled from the Liberal Party.
Mr Pesutto previously reached settlements with anti-trans rights activist Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshull and Angela Jones, both publicly apologizing for their involvement in the rally.
Mr Kennett donated to a fund to help cover Mr Pesutto’s legal bills.
Daily Mail Australia has contacted Mr Kennett and the Young Liberal Movement of Australia for comment.