Save this article for later<\/p>\n
Add articles to your saved list and come back to them anytime.<\/p>\n
Got it<\/p>\n
AAA<\/p>\n
Conservative Liberal MP Ann-Marie Hermans has been relegated to second spot on the state Liberals\u2019 upper house ticket amid a round of tense preselection battles that coincides with a surging threat from One Nation.<\/p>\n
The shift comes as outspoken Liberal MPs Moira Deeming and Bev McArthur are preparing to defend their positions against incoming challenges, while fellow conservative Renee Heath successfully survived a move to unseat her during a preselection vote on Saturday.<\/p>\n
![\"Liberal](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/81463c22ad1533bd601d1e90749da522f32da22b.jpeg\")
Liberal MP Ann-Marie Hermans has been relegated to second spot of the Liberals\u2019 South Eastern Metropolitan upper house ticket.Justin McManus<\/p>\n
On Sunday, South-Eastern Metropolitan MP Hermans lost the top spot to Phillip Pease, a former staffer to moderate ex-MP Matthew Bach, but managed to retain the second position on the ballot after fending off a challenge from Manju Hanumantharayappa.<\/p>\n
Hermans thanked Opposition Leader Jess Wilson for her \u201cunwavering support\u201d and acknowledged the delegates who backed her candidacy.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have an election to win and a state to save \u2013 and that\u2019s exactly what we\u2019ll do,\u201d Hermans told The Age. <\/p>\n
Related Article She has previously courted controversy, most recently coming under fire after comparing former premier Daniel Andrews to Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin.<\/p>\n At the 2022 election, Hermans was the only Liberal to win a seat from the South Eastern Metropolitan ticket, meaning a second-spot ranking would not have seen her elected under those results.<\/p>\n However, multiple Liberal MPs and senior figures believe Hermans remains well-positioned to retain her seat, noting the party fell only a few hundred votes short of a second MP in 2022.<\/p>\n They are banking on a surge in support across Melbourne\u2019s south-east, which party strategists view as essential to winning the next election.<\/p>\n Insiders noted that despite the relegation, Hermans defied the expectations of some critics simply by securing the second spot.<\/p>\n On Saturday, conservative MP Heath staved off a challenge from author Sue Smethurst to retain the Liberal top spot for Eastern Victoria.<\/p>\n Heath had come under scrutiny in the lead-up to the vote after it was revealed a venue linked to her family \u2013 and partially owned by her \u2013 was used to host a One Nation branch meeting.<\/p>\n Two sources speaking on the condition of anonymity so they could discuss party matters, said Smethurst had raised questions about the process of the vote, after a delegate was suddenly deemed ineligible late on Friday and others failed to show up.<\/p>\n Smethurst supporters were also frustrated that Senator James Paterson had intervened to phone delegates on Heath\u2019s behalf.<\/p>\n Heath said she was honoured to have been chosen to represent the region and remain part of Wilson\u2019s team \u201centirely focused on changing the government in November\u201d.<\/p>\n Wilson attended both Heath and Hermans\u2019 preselection, and has provided written endorsements for any MPs who requested them.<\/p>\n Conservative MPs Deeming and McArthur, who is upper house leader, will also face preselection challenges in the coming weeks.<\/p>\n Deeming, who was readmitted to the Liberal party room in late 2024 following a successful defamation suit against former leader John Pesutto, is being challenged by Dinesh Gourisetty for top spot on the Western Metropolitan ticket. Liberal sources say he is currently well placed to win convincingly.<\/p>\n The challenge has fuelled speculation among Liberals that Deeming could be among the first high-profile defections to One Nation should she lose preselection.<\/p>\n The fiery preselection battles come amid the fallout from the South Australian election, where a surging One Nation savaged the Liberal primary vote.<\/p>\n The Morning Edition newsletter is our guide to the day\u2019s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up here<\/a>.<\/p>\n Save<\/p>\n You have reached your maximum number of saved items.<\/p>\n Remove items from your saved list<\/a> to add more.<\/p>\n![\"Renee](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/034a918f687155d0c6bc0f8bd1383c2e80fc3ffe.jpeg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n![\"Daniella](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/fc9e6b56d9a64ef5752ea621d429fdf51714a492.png\")
Daniella White<\/a> is a state political reporter for The Age. Contact her at da.white@nine.com.auConnect via X<\/a> or email<\/a>.![\"Rachel](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/fcd0cf35489c52846335f81cd530949e8ec046ac.png\")
Rachel Eddie<\/a> is a Victorian state political reporter for The Age. Contact her at rachel.eddie@theage.com.au, rachel.eddie@protonmail.com, or via Signal at @RachelEddie.99Connect via X<\/a> or email<\/a>.From our partners<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"March 22, 2026 \u2014 6:44pm Save You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Remove items from…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":556777,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[64,63,44],"class_list":{"0":"post-556776","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-australia","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/556776","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=556776"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/556776\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/556777"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=556776"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=556776"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=556776"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}