Political veteran Jeff Kennett apologises for shocking outburst at black-tie gala – as guests called for him to be booted

Former Victorian premier Jeff Kennett has apologised for calling a woman a ‘rude little b****’ on Saturday night at a Liberal Party event in Melbourne.

Mr Kennett was giving the keynote address 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 president Dean Dell’Orso apologising. 

Mr Kennett later said sorry, but said there were continual interruptions while he was speaking.

‘I apologise profusely,’ he told the Herald Sun. 

‘I’m not going to try and make excuses but you can understand it was in response to something that happened and I was very disappointed.’

The former premier said the woman had been talking to someone at her table and he asked several times for the ‘very distracting’ chatter to stop.

Mr Kennett said though her comments were not directed at him, she was sitting right in front of where he was speaking from.

He said the woman ‘ignored’ her request to stop interrupting and ‘unfortunately, I made that comment which was inappropriate but as you can understand, I was very disappointed’.

One Young Liberal claimed they had previously been subjected to to a tirade from Mr Kennett. 

‘Jeff’s taste for verbally abusing Young Liberals at their own events is well established,’ they said.

They then compared it to current internal warfare in the Victorian Liberal Party, with the leader John Pesutto being sued for defamation by former colleague  Moira Deeming.

‘Jeff’s love of the sound of his own voice is matched in intensity only by his sheer desperation to prop up John Pesutto, lest the Victorian Party find electoral success – causing his legacy, such that it is, to pass over 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 right next to me and she wasn’t even interjecting. 

‘Others were and she just laughed,’ the said.

Some members called for Mr Kennett to be shown the door at the event. 

Amid Mr Pesutto’s court case, Mr Kennett has demanded Liberal MPs support the Opposition Leader and stop trying to undermine his leadership.

Mr Kennett later said sorry, but said there were continual interruptions while he was speaking (pictured, Mr Kennett with then-premier Daniel Andrews in 2018)

Ms Deeming revolves around comments Mr Pesutto he made about her attending the controversial Let Women Speak rally outside state parliament in March 2023.

She alleges Mr Pesutto falsely portrayed her as a Nazi sympathiser after she spoke at the rally, which was gatecrashed by neo-Nazis. 

Mr Pesutto has denied wrongdoing.

Ms Deeming has been an independent MP since she was expelled from the Liberal Party.

Mr Pesutto previously reached settlements with anti-trans rights activist Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshull and Angela Jones, issuing a public apology to both over 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.