Moira Deeming could stay on Liberal ticket after preselection bungle as members make ‘stitch up’ claim | Victorian politics

Moira Deeming could take the top spot on the Victorian Liberal ticket if she still wants it, after potential rivals were given just 36 hours to prepare candidates for a re-run of preselection voting that some insiders have dubbed “the seam”.

This comes after Deeming was ousted from the top spot in the western metro area by Dinesh Gourisetty on Sunday. But on Monday night, after Gourisetty was deemed ineligible to stand in the November state election because of a character reference he made to a friend convicted of sexually assaulting a child, the Victorian Liberal party leadership decided to hold a new primary.

The party’s chairman, Philip Davis, wrote to members at around 11.10pm on Tuesday, advising that nominations would open that night and close at noon on Thursday.

Liberal members, who asked to remain anonymous so they could speak openly, said the short nomination window appeared designed to prevent new candidates from nominating. Deeming and upper house member Trung Luu, who participated in Sunday’s vote, do not need to run again.

“What are they? [the executive] “He wants no one else to nominate, so Moira gets it by default without a preselection meeting,” a moderate Liberal member said, adding that Sunday’s vote would be attended by the same delegates whose majority backed Gourisetty.

“If he goes to a meeting, he could very well lose again. So this whole thing was made up for him.”

Another member said the timeline forces potential candidates to “work all day and all night” to put together an extremely detailed application that typically takes up to a week to prepare.

This includes references from at least two people, 10 signatures from eligible party members, a national police check and a credit report. Candidates also must fill out an 18-page questionnaire designed to uncover anything that might embarrass the party, such as past drug use, dating app activity or visits to brothels or strip clubs.

They also must pay a $5,000 application fee, most of which goes to an outside consultancy responsible for review; however, the process is currently under review as Gourisetty’s character reference was not flagged.

One member said the paperwork could technically be completed in a day, but the fee could be a barrier.

“There is no doubt that the short period of time was in Deeming’s favour,” they said.

An initial effort was made for a 24-hour nomination period, but that was extended to 36 hours to ensure there was enough time to complete the application, said a party official who was not authorized to speak publicly. They said candidates only need to provide evidence that they have applied to police and credit checks.

According to the party charter, anyone who applies for Sunday’s primary election and does not withdraw their application will be “deemed to have applied for approval.”

Second-place finishers Deeming and Luu were then approached for comment.

Deeming, who informed opposition leader Jess Wilson on Tuesday that he would not return until after Easter, is understood to be on personal leave.

Many Liberals, including Deeming’s critics, said they believed the upper house MP would be reconfirmed in a bid to contain the complex factional warfare that has engulfed the party ahead of the November election.

Despite this, on Wednesday morning the party’s senior figures were making calls to many potential candidates urging them to nominate.