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Victoria’s Liberal Party implodes after dumping high-profile conservative Moira Deeming for a candidate who resigned within 24 hours, sparking fury and defection rumours.

Victoria’s “diversity is our strength” Liberals have written themselves off as a serious party.

Moira Deeming was denied preselection over the weekend.

The disaster of a decision then went from a train wreck to a clown show.

Dinesh Gourisetty, who won the spot, resigned 24 hours later due to his alleged endorsement of a sex offender.

Party members ditched Deeming for Gourisetty in favour of what some are criticising as a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) hire.

Principles matter💪💜#Australia#Fairness#FYP#PrinciplesMatter #ElectionsHaveConsequences pic.twitter.com/jjIyyWKS5g

— Moira Deeming MP (@MoiraDeemingMP) March 25, 2026

The shock shift in favour of the multiculturalist candidate with a questionable past comes despite strong support for Moira’s candidacy.

Preselection Chaos: Deeming Out, Replacement Gone in 24 Hours

The original tally, according to Sky News, was 39 for Gourisetty, 26 for Deeming, and three for MP Trung Luu.

Gourisetty won in spite of Liberal stalwarts Peta Credlin, Tony Abbott, and recently elevated Victorian Lib leader Jess Wilson all reportedly telling voting members to retain Deeming.

Regardless of Dinesh’s departure, Deeming will still be in the cold, because the number 2 slot was handed to Mr Luu.

Deeming opted out of playing second fiddle.

As such, unless the vote is recast, she will not be on the Liberal ticket for the state’s election in November.

There’s good reason for Deeming’s popularity, and the mass dissatisfaction with the decision not to renew her tenure.

The young mother and former teacher gives an increasingly out-of-touch Liberal party relevance.

Deeming is by far one of the party’s strongest, most committed and high-profile serving members. This isn’t just true for Victoria, or nationally; it’s true on an international scale.

Without question, her position of respect has been well earned.

Deeming has staying power. She’s proven her loyalty by holding fast to her convictions, even when it meant complicating her life to do so.

The mother and former teacher has stared down betrayal after betrayal and yet managed to keep both her integrity and dignity intact.

This is despite being targeted and hit with vicious opposition from both those within her own party, and outside it.

This latest betrayal puts all eyes on One Nation and whether she’ll take up Victorian President Warren Pickering’s persistent offer to defect.

Conservatives Sound the Alarm: “Death by a Thousand Cuts”

Understandably, reactions to the news were sharp, swift, and unsanitised.

On X, Sall Grover, famous for her gallant role in Tickle v. Giggle fight for free speech against the trans takeover of female-only spaces, remarked,

“How the [expletive] did they get this so wrong?

“Whose idea was it to replace the woman who campaigns for child safeguarding with a man who supported a convicted child sex offender?”

David Adler, former boss of the Australian Jewish Association, declared that the Liberal Party just escalated their own self-destruction.

“So desperate to get rid of a strong conservative woman in Moira Deeming, they risk blowing up the Liberal Party even further,” he stated.

“No way the Libs can claim to be the party of family or conservative values. How or can they recover from this gross self-inflicted mess?”

Matt Canavan said he couldn’t fathom the decision.

“I can’t believe Moira Deeming wasn’t picked to continue her amazing work,” the Nationals leader posted online.

To this he added,

“Regardless of the result, she is so brave and such an inspiration to so many. I hope she has much more to give to Australian political life.

“We need more people with her courage and integrity.”

Turning Point Australia’s Joel Jammal gave his blunt conclusion while traversing back from the CPAC conference in Texas.

The Liberals chose “death by a thousand cuts.”

They’re stuffed, he said.

“They had the preselections for Moria Deeming and Luke Howarth, good conservatives, and they both lost!”

Likening the Liberal Party’s mixed messaging to a toxic relationship, if the Liberals want to win back conservative voters, preselecting “two candidates who aren’t conservatives” isn’t the way.

What makes this worse is the 10,000-plus people who wrote in to the Liberals advocating for Deeming and Howarth.

“In Moira’s specific area, 20,000 people used the TPAUS how-to-vote cards, so the Liberals have no excuse now.

“This is why people are leaving them. And why One Nation has its highest polling vote ever.”

The TPAUS leader said he isn’t viewing the decision as a loss. For something new to rise, something former has to die, Jammal argued.

One Nation potentially taking out the Liberals because of stunts like this, will make Victoria’s election all the more interesting.

Jammel concluded by saying he was looking forward to seeing which party Deeming would now run with, and offered TPAUS’ help.

One Nation Circling as Liberals Face Electoral Fallout

While The Daily Mail declared Deeming’s career dead, former Federal MP Craig Kelly disagreed.

Right sentiment, wrong politician.

Reflecting widespread disappointment, he argued that by politically “executing Deeming”, the Liberal left had fulfilled a “death wish”.

The Liberals had likely achieved Deeming’s defection to One Nation, along with “thousands more long-standing Liberals will now move to Pauline Hanson’s party.”

He added that, if Deeming “decides to run in the Victorian Upper House as One Nation, she‘ll bolt in — and outpoll the Liberals by a country mile.”

Deeming is yet to publish an official public statement about the decision, and her future direction.