‘Which treaty?’: Liberal candidate drops ball on core policy and earns party rebuke

Victoria’s treaty has been the subject of years of passionate political debate, but one Liberal candidate appears to have completely missed the memo.

Appearing at a candidates forum hosted by Yarra City Council on Wednesday evening, Charles Aponso, 19, who is running for the seat of Richmond in November’s state election, totally dropped the ball.

Asked by an audience member, “Why doesn’t the Liberal Party support treaty in Victoria?” Aponso replied, “So, the treaty, um, which treaty are you talking about?” Cue awkward silence.

MC Mary Gearin and the woman who asked the original question filled in the gaps, explaining to Aponso what Victoria’s treaty – a legal agreement between Victoria and the First Peoples’ Assembly of Victoria which came into effect in December 2025 – was. The Liberals have pledged to scrap the treaty within 100 days if elected.

Details about treaty may not be the only thing Aponso, arguably an underprepared candidate, may have missed.

He seems to have overlooked a memo from the Liberals’ state director, Alyson Hannam, that any debate or forum appearance by candidates must be approved by her.

Aponso’s gaffe prompted a terse message sent via WhatsApp on Thursday from Hannam to all MPs and Liberal candidates which CBD has seen.

“Team, I continue to get both members and candidates agreeing to debates without my approval,” the message read.

“The instruction that all debates must be approved by me has gone out each week for months. There is NO EXCUSE.

“I attach this clip as an example of why we must know. Not being across your brief puts not only you, but the team at risk and risks others getting a question about your mistakes.

“This candidate was not approved to do this, and we were not informed. This is unacceptable. Alyson.”

We reached out to Hannam and Aponso to find out if they had caught up for a chat, but are yet to hear back from either.

Richmond is held by Greens MP Gabrielle de Vietri, who won the seat off Labor in the 2022 election.

Family sporting twist ahead for Michelle Payne

Michelle Payne has become an Australian sporting great thanks to her efforts in the saddle as the first female jockey to win the Melbourne Cup, but there is no guarantee her child will follow her into the racing game.

Payne, 40, who is expecting her first child, a boy, in early January, said her partner Gabriel Ribeiro’s sporting interests may well take precedence over the thoroughbreds.

“Gabriel, my partner, is Brazilian. He loves surfing and motorbikes,” Payne said.

“I am sure he will have him out in the ocean before I have him on a horse.

“It will be up to them [her son]. Whatever they want to do, I’ll be supportive.”

Payne, who was the guest speaker at a Women of the MCC business breakfast at the MCG on Thursday, has seen the highs and lows of the racing game.

She retired as a jockey in July 2024, but continues to train a small team of racehorses.

“Some riders have a very trouble-free career and some have bad luck along the way, and unfortunately, for me, that [bad luck] started pretty young,” Payne said.

At 18, she suffered a fractured skull in a race fall from which she took seven months to recover, and during her career had another five or six serious falls – which involved several concussions.

“Probably the worst one [fall] was after I won the [2015] Melbourne Cup. I had a very simple fall at Mildura, and the horse stood on my stomach and tore off three-quarters of my pancreas,” she said.

“It was unbelievable to go through that, but what was amazing was how incredible your body is. To recover from that and now to be able to carry a child without too much trouble is incredible.”

Payne, who will be part of the Melbourne Cup Carnival TV broadcast next month, recalled her life changing the minute she won the Cup on Prince of Penzance.

“Somebody passed the phone to me at the press conference after the Cup and said, ‘Oh, it is the prime minister’. It was such a whirlwind, all I could think of was ‘who is the prime minister?’”

It was Malcolm Turnbull on the line. You never know who is going to get your number!

SPOTTED

David Southwick was a man in a hurry on Thursday afternoon when CBD spotted him doing almost a semi jog in a suit through the Crown complex on the way to a meeting. Must have been an important meeting because he was moving with intent.

While in this instance CBD was sitting down and finishing a phone call when the state’s deputy opposition leader hot-footed it past us, we are all too familiar with the “Crown dash”. It is a particular type of power-walk cum trot, usually from the West End car park to the Palladium. Always good to get your steps up.