However the audio is inconclusive so it is hard determine whether he shouted "wanker" or "wacker." Whack! ... Frankston MP Geoff Shaw leaves Parliment yesterday. Credit:Wayne Taylor Premier Ted Baillieu said this morning that he had seen the footage and that it was inconclusive. During question time Mr Smith said the video would be made available to the public. Earlier, Mr Baillieu told the parliament, in response to opposition questions, that he had seen the video three times.

"I believe the video is inconclusive," Mr Baillieu said. On the nose ... Premier Ted Baillieu. Credit:Lachlan Bence Mr Baillieu said this morning that he would look into allegations that Mr Shaw said the word "wankers" and simulated masturbation in parliament, but backed colleagues who denied the accusation. Ted Baillieu said that while he was not in the chamber and had not seen video of yesterday's incident, he accepted the word of Liberal MPs who said the Frankston MP actually used the word "wackers". However Press gallery president John Ferguson and another senior television reporter saw the video during a meeting with the Speaker today. They said Mr Shaw did not appear to be pointing, as he had claimed, but "appeared to be simulating masturbation".

They said they also heard Mr Shaw say what sounded like "wanker", not "wacker". You don’t say the word ‘wackers’ when you’re making that hand gesture. Former premier Jeff Kennett weighed in on the matter, saying Mr Shaw would be an "absolute goose" if he did lie about the offensive word and gesture and should apologise if the footage contradicted his denial. ‘‘If that is correct, then the whip of the party ought to call him in and he ought to make an apology when the parliament reassembles,’’ he told Radio 3AW. ‘‘It sounds as though he has misled. He may have lied. I think still it’s not too late for an apology.‘‘

The latest development comes amid poor polling data for the Baillieu government, which indicates that the Coalition would be thrown out of office after its term. The Newspoll, published in The Australian newspaper today, shows the Labor opposition has secured an election-winning lead for the first time since the 2010 election. Asked on ABC radio station 774 by Jon Faine if he was confident he would lead the Liberal Party to the next election, the Premier refused to answer directly, saying only that ‘‘I’m very confident, Jon that we’re heading - that’s we’re doing exactly what we need to do. And again, you ask me to comment on polls and I don’t do that.’’ The Baillieu government ‘‘ had inherited a very difficult situation,’’ the Premier said, obliging them to adopt ‘‘some tough positions’’ to produce ‘‘a responsible budget’’. In interviews on both 774 and Neil Mitchell’s 3AW program, the Premier revealed that he had not seen the footage of controversial MP Geoff Shaw.

‘‘I wasn’t there, I didn’t hear it, I didn’t see it,’’ Mr Baillieu said on 774 — but he would not ask the Speaker of the House, Ken Smith, to make the footage public so that others could judge for themselves. Deputy Opposition Leader James Merlino is the only MP to have seen the footage, and says he’s adamant Mr Shaw said ‘‘wankers’’ and made an accompanying obscene gesture. ‘‘You don’t say the word ‘wackers’ when you’re making that hand gesture,’’ he told 3AW, saying he’d watched the footage about 20 times. "I saw the hand gesture and I heard the word’’. He said Mr Shaw's his denial was yet another ‘‘cover-up’’ for a politician that the Ombudsman found had lied under oath about using his parliamentary car for his private business. ‘‘The issue is again that he said something that wasn’t correct. The camera doesn’t lie.’’

Opposition Leader Daniel Andrews urged the Speaker to make the footage public. ‘‘I respectfully put it to you that that tape cannot remain secret for any longer,’’ he said. ‘‘All Victorians are entitled to view that tape.’’ The Newspoll survey of Victorian voting intentions shows Labor holds a commanding 55 per cent to 45 per cent two-party-preferred lead following a six-point surge in the party’s primary vote. Labor leads the Coalition on the primary vote by 41 per cent to 37 per cent, according to the poll conducted over the past two months.

The number of voters dissatisfied with Mr Baillieu’s leadership climbed three points from the July-August survey to 53 per cent, which is up 24 points in a year. Mr Baillieu holds a nine point lead over Labor’s Mr Andrews, 39 per cent to 30 per cent, in the preferred premier stakes. But the trend is not going with the premier. He has lost 17 points as better premier in the past year, while Mr Andrews has gained 11 points. Loading Mr Baillieu came to power in November 2010 with a two-party preferred vote of 51.6 per cent to Labor’s 48.4 per cent and reached a high point of 55 per cent to 45 per cent a year ago. With AAP