‘Won’t go down without a fight’: Moira Deeming among Victorian Liberal MPs facing preselection challenge | Victorian politics

Victorian Liberal upper house MPs Moira Deeming and Ann-Marie Hermans will face preselection challenges as senior party members put forward the candidacy of a former journalist against Renee Heath.

Guardian Australia has confirmed from three sources not authorized to comment publicly that Dinesh Gourisetty, a leading figure in Melbourne’s fast-growing Indian community, will run for preselection in the western metropolitan area against Deeming.

Nominations for the Liberal upper house primaries close on January 14, with voting taking place over two weekends in March ahead of state elections in November.

In the southeastern metro area, Hermans will also face a challenge. Three sources said there were many names in the mix for the number one spot on the list; These include former Dunkley candidate and Frankston mayor Nathan Conroy, former Mordialloc candidate Phillip Pease and Manju Hanumantharayappa, who came second on the Liberal party ticket in 2022 and narrowly missed out on the last parliamentary top spot.

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A senior Liberal figure said Conroy could also run in Nepean following the shock resignation of the party’s deputy leader Sam Groth on Monday.

Hermans told Guardian Australia he had heard “rumors and complaints from party members” about a challenge but had not contacted any potential candidates directly.

“If he challenges me, my opponent is already showing that he is unprincipled and without courage,” Hermans said.

He said the second spot on the ticket was “up for grabs” and should be contested.

“I have worked hard, I have challenged Labor, I have broken new ground in red centres, and if I am punished and challenged for being conscientious and determined to fight tirelessly to represent the Liberal party and help my local community, I would see it as a huge failure of the party,” Hermans said.

His supporters said he “won’t go down without a fight.”

The MP declined to comment when contacted by Guardian Australia, as party rules prohibit candidates from commenting publicly on primaries.

“He hasn’t lost so far,” said one supporter, pointing to Deeming’s successful libel case against former opposition leader John Pesutto.

The party loaned Pesutto $1.5 million to help pay $2.3 million in legal fees, which are now the subject of a court challenge.

Gourisetty is listed in Pesutto’s list of parliamentary interests as a donor to his legal fund. He previously challenged Deeming in the 2022 primary, having previously finished second in 2018 and was the Liberal candidate for Tarneit in 2014.

He failed to win the support of then-party chairman Robert Clark and his allies in the 2022 contest, in part because of food safety law violations to which he pleaded guilty in 2019.

Since then, Gourisetty has gained significant support in the west suburban branches that make up the district, while the party’s executive committee has taken a moderate stance under new chairman Philip Davis.

Sources close to Gourisetty say numbers are available at eight of the 11 branches in the area, but Deeming’s supporters dispute that figure. They say he has strong grassroots support and has received support from high-profile Liberal figures.

Meanwhile in eastern Victoria, two sources have confirmed that senior Liberals have approached journalist and author Sue Smethurst to run against Heath. He previously ran for office in 2021. Smethurst declined to comment to Guardian Australia.

Heath’s supporters have downplayed the prospect of a challenge, pointing to his strong support in local branches and the party room, including his recent promotion to the shadow cabinet.

Steve Brooks is expected to have enough support in Northern Victoria to replace long-serving MP Wendy Lovell, who resigned on Monday. The number two spot on the north-east metropolitan ticket will also be filled following MP Nick McGowan’s decision to contest the lower house seat of Ringwood.

Victorian Labor has postponed its upper house primaries while it awaits the outcome of group voting tickets and negotiates a stabilization agreement between groups.

Gourisetty, Conroy, Hanumantharayappa, Pease and Heath were approached for comments.