For months, a plan has been under way by moderates within the Victorian Liberal party to dislodge a group of conservative women from their prized, top positions on the upper house ballot ahead of the November state election.
While they failed to move Bev McArthur and Renee Heath, and Ann-Marie Hermans held on in the second spot, they did claim one major victory by ousting Moira Deeming – by far the most high-profile of the group.
On Sunday, Dinesh Gourisetty secured the party’s number one position in the western metropolitan region – thanks to both the support of the local branches and moderate grouping on the executive committee. Deeming did not contest the second position, which went to the incumbent upper house MP Trung Luu.
After years of headlines dominated by Deeming, for many small-l Liberals, it felt like vindication. The small-ls believed they had dragged their party into the centre, making it more electable in a progressive state like Victoria.
But the mood lasted less than a day.
By Monday morning, an email sent to the executive committee, most of whom had backed Gourisetty, revealed he had recently provided a character reference for a friend convicted of sexually assaulting a child.
That night, the executive resolved to hold a fresh preselection – and ruled that Gourisetty would not be eligible to stand.
Sign up for the Breaking News Australia emailFor a party that, under leader Jess Wilson, has spent months trying to convince voters it has moved beyond internal warfare and is a disciplined team, a credible alternative government, it is a damaging setback.
“It’s just so incredibly embarrassing,” one Liberal MP, unauthorised to speak publicly on internal matters, says.
Another says: “Are we frustrated? Yes. Surprised? No.”
A Liberal source, from outside the party room, is more blunt: “We all knew this process would be bad. But nobody would have predicted how catastrophically fucked it is.”
Liberal sources have varyingly described the timing of the revelation after the vote as “diabolical” and a “political masterstroke” but all agree it was designed to cause “maximum damage” to the moderate grouping on the executive committee.
There is also agreement that the vetting process, overseen by the Applicant Review Committee, has failed.
Candidates pay thousands to nominate for preselection: about $5,000 in Liberal-held seats and $3,000 in others, though fees are sometimes waived in Labor strongholds.
The money funds an external consultancy to comb through candidates’ social media profiles, their personal associations and questionable comments they have left on forums, to prevent the embarrassments seen at previous elections.
Yet in this case, Gourisetty’s involvement in a publicly accessible court matter appears to have gone unnoticed.
It has led Wilson to order the party president, Philip Davis, and state director, Alyson Hannam, to review the vetting process.
“The situation should not have occurred,” Wilson told reporters on Tuesday. “We need to learn from what occurred and ensure that we improve our processes.”
Those in her party room back her response. Wilson has largely been spared any criticism, given she publicly supported all four sitting MPs being challenged.
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