Here is a simple truth: the Liberal Party in Victoria could not defeat the most corrupt, incompetent, and debt-ridden Labor government in our country’s history. Instead, it went backwards. It lost four seats to Dan Andrews. It was humiliated. Again.

The soul-searching is now underway. It is long overdue. But the two loudest voices to date in the post-defeat circumspection are both predictable and will not trouble Labor in the slightest.