The Victorian Liberal Party is tearing itself apart ahead of the November 2026 state election. A bitter factional civil war reached a breaking point on Sunday when outspoken upper house MP Moira Deeming was dumped from the party ticket. She lost her crucial preselection contest for the top spot in the Western Metropolitan region.
The factional crisis has captured the attention of the political world as the party desperately tries to consolidate its base to end 12 years of Labor rule. The preselection defeat is a massive blow to the conservative wing. Dinesh Gourisetty won the top spot. He is a businessman and a prominent figure in Melbourne’s Indian community who secured deep backing from the moderate faction. Fellow upper house MP Trung Luu was also ousted in the vote.
Deeming declined to contest the second position on the ticket and left the Melbourne headquarters without addressing reporters, according to a detailed report published on Sunday.
This vote is the climax of a multi-year legal and political saga. In 2023, then-leader John Pesutto expelled Deeming from the party room. He falsely linked her to neo-Nazis who crashed a “Let Women Speak” rally she attended.
Deeming sued. She won the high-profile defamation case. That victory saddled Pesutto with a $2.3 million legal bill and shattered the party’s finances. The state executive authorized a controversial $1.55 million loan to save Pesutto from bankruptcy. Breakaway Liberals threatened legal action over the funds.
The leadership chaos ended in December 2024. Brad Battin ousted Pesutto to become the new Victorian Liberal leader and immediately welcomed Deeming back into the parliamentary party. Despite her ultimate preselection loss this weekend, Deeming retained heavy-hitting support. Current Victorian Opposition Leader Jess Wilson backed her campaign. Former Prime Minister Tony Abbott and Sky News commentator Peta Credlin also publicly endorsed her.
Now the Liberals face a severe defection threat. Support for the right-wing One Nation party is surging across the country. They recently secured nearly 23 percent of first preference votes in the South Australian state election. Liberal insiders fear Deeming’s deeply loyal conservative base in Melbourne’s western suburbs will abandon the party. The state executive must still formally endorse Sunday’s vote.