{"id":457133,"date":"2026-02-04T05:00:13","date_gmt":"2026-02-04T05:00:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/457133\/"},"modified":"2026-02-04T05:00:13","modified_gmt":"2026-02-04T05:00:13","slug":"former-deputy-liberal-leader-sam-groth-quits-victorian-parliament-triggering-nepean-by-election","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/457133\/","title":{"rendered":"Former deputy Liberal leader Sam Groth quits Victorian parliament, triggering Nepean by-election"},"content":{"rendered":"

Former deputy Liberal leader Sam Groth will resign from parliament next week, forcing a by-election in the seat of Nepean.<\/p>\n

The first-term MP had already vowed to exit state politics at the November election<\/a>, a decision he said he made after realising recent public pressure on his family had come from within his own party.<\/p>\n

His imminent resignation will force voters in the Mornington Peninsula-based seat to the polls twice in less than a year \u2014 once for the by-election in the early half of this year and again in November for the state election.<\/p>\n

After news of his resignation broke, the first-term MP released a statement saying he intended to pursue other opportunities.<\/p>\n

“It has been an honour to serve the people of Nepean and I sincerely thank them for the trust they placed in me for the opportunity to represent our community,” Mr Groth said.<\/p>\n

“I am very grateful to my staff for their professionalism, dedication and tireless work in supporting the people of Nepean.”<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Sam Groth with his wife Brittany at his election party in November 2022. (ABC News: Kristian Silva)<\/p>\n

He said he wished Opposition Leader Jess Wilson and the Liberal team all the best for the election.<\/p>\n

“Most importantly, I thank my family, my wife Britt and our twin boys, for their unwavering love and support,” the statement said.<\/p>\n

‘Politics is a tough game’<\/p>\n

In a press conference on Wednesday afternoon, Ms Wilson thanked Mr Groth and said she supported his decision to leave without seeing out his term.<\/p>\n

“Sam’s been very clear that this is a decision he has made with his family,” she said.<\/p>\n

“He took the time over the Christmas break. When he came back, we sat down and we spoke about it.<\/p>\n

“He and Britt and the boys have come to a decision that they want to take a different direction. I understand that and I’m going to respect that.”<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Liberal leader Jess Wilson says she respects Sam Groth’s decision to quit politics, despite not seeing out his full term. (ABC News)<\/p>\n

Ms Wilson said she did not try to change his mind at any stage since he announced his intentions several weeks ago.<\/p>\n

“Politics is a really tough game. It’s a really tough environment and sometimes it can take an incredible toll on people’s families,” she said.<\/p>\n

She said she was excited about the upcoming by-election, but refused to be drawn on its cost.<\/p>\n

“It’s an opportunity to listen to the people of Nepean, to earn their trust and to outline our priorities,” she said.<\/p>\n

She would not say whether her party had a candidate in mind.<\/p>\n

The Victorian Electoral Commission’s 2024-25 annual report said the two most recent state by-elections, in Werribee and Prahran, cost about $2,109,500 each.<\/p>\n

\"Two<\/p>\n

Sam Groth and Jess Wilson arrive at a press conference with Bev McArthur and Evan Mulholland in November 2025. (ABC News: Jean Bell)<\/p>\n

Departure follows lawsuit, internal division<\/p>\n

Mr Groth was elected in 2022 after a professional tennis career in which he represented Australia at the Olympics and in international tournaments.<\/p>\n

He rose through the ranks to become deputy leader of the Victorian Liberal party, but stepped down after flagging his intention to quit politics.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Sam Groth delivers a victory speech at his election party in November 2022.\u00a0 (ABC News: Kristian Silva)<\/p>\n

He has worked in the shadow portfolios of tourism, sport and major events, and trade and investment.<\/p>\n

Mr Groth was the subject of media headlines in early 2025, when the Herald Sun newspaper ran a series of articles about the beginning of his relationship with his wife.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Mr Groth subsequently sued the Herald Sun newspaper for defamation<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The ABC understands the parties settled out of court, with the Herald Sun publishing an apology to the couple in November<\/a>.<\/p>\n

When he announced his decision not to contest the November election, Mr Groth said he had “always tried to approach this job with honesty, hard work and a clear focus on the people who put their trust in me”.<\/p>\n

“But when you find yourself having to fight against your own team, it becomes impossible to put those interest first,” he said.<\/p>\n

His early exit means he leaves politics without having served a full parliamentary term.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Former deputy Liberal leader Sam Groth will resign from parliament next week, forcing a by-election in the seat…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":457134,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[64,63,38323,10940,44,9801,8688,209871,747,235471],"class_list":["post-457133","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-australia","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-by-election","tag-liberal-party","tag-news","tag-parliament","tag-resigns","tag-sam-groth","tag-tennis","tag-victorian-liberals"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/457133","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=457133"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/457133\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/457134"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=457133"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=457133"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=457133"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}