The administrative committee of Victoria’s Liberal Party last night decided not to field candidates in the by-elections for Williamstown and Albert Park, the seats vacated by former premier and deputy premier Steve Bracks and John Thwaites.

State director Julian Sheezel said that the decision “is consistent with past party practice both in Victoria and federally”.

He’s right. Liberals across the country have made a habit of wimping out on by-elections for at least the last decade. It’s typical of the extraordinary short-sightedness of those who run our political parties.

Such considerations as building up brand loyalty and laying the groundwork for future growth just don’t seem to occur to them.

Williamstown is certainly a safe Labor seat, with a margin of 24.3%, although it’s hard to say how much of that might be Bracks’s personal vote. But Albert Park, on 9.7%, is exactly the sort of seat the Liberals need to target, given that they need a swing of more than 6% to win government. Even the Queensland Liberal Party, surely in worse shape than its Victorian cousins, managed a 13.5% swing to win a by-election in Chatsworth two years ago.

The Australian‘s report notes that “The decision will save money for the Liberal Party’s federal campaign in November”, but of course it will save money for the ALP as well. And while there is certainly the risk of a poor performance impacting on the federal election, federal prospects for the Coalition are so poor that it really has to start taking risks.

“Business as usual” might be a viable strategy for a party that’s secure in government. But for the Liberals, behind by a big margin in Victoria (as in every other state) and now facing the prospect of federal annihilation (the prime minister’s word, not mine), surely it’s time to try something more adventurous.

Instead, the party has chosen to send the electorate the message that it is either (a) broke, (b) scared of its own shadow, or (c) consumed by internal warfare between the state and federal leadership — or some combination of all three.

With relatively few Coalition marginals in Victoria, most of the action in this year’s federal election is expected to be elsewhere. But if the local Liberals continue to shoot themselves in the foot, the state could yet deliver Kevin Rudd a healthy boost to his numbers.