Baillieu rejects calls to quit

A defiant Ted Baillieu has rejected calls for him to stand down as Victoria's
opposition leader despite taking a beating in opinion polls.
Mr Baillieu has been criticised over his performance and his ability to lead the
coalition to victory at next year's election.
But he said the opposition was on the ball and would be a credible alternative in
the 2010 poll.
"They're not criticisms that I'm hearing or colleagues are hearing," Mr Baillieu
said on Wednesday.
"I disagree and the evidence suggests that we have been right on just about every
issue that we have raised."
Those issues included reporting of crime statistics and hospital waiting lists and
the case for the controversial north-south pipeline, he said.
In a recent Newspoll the Liberals' primary vote slipped to 31 per cent, compared to
the ALP's 46 per cent.
"I don't comment on polls and I'm more than confident we are doing the right
things," Mr Baillieu said.
"I'm confident that we will deal with these issues in the right way and that we'll
present a very credible alternative at the next election."