Moira Deeming\u2019s political future in the Victorian Liberals is about to be decided behind closed doors in the final preselection battle for the party\u2019s upper house seats on Sunday.<\/p>\n
Liberal members were due to gather at party headquarters for the western metropolitan region convention, where Deeming faces a serious challenge from Dinesh Gourisetty, a prominent figure in Melbourne\u2019s fast-growing Indian community.<\/p>\n
Trung Luu, a sitting upper house MP, was also competing for the top spot on the ticket.<\/p>\n
Gourisetty, Luu and Tim Beddoe, a former Liberal candidate for the seat of Maribyrnong at last year\u2019s federal election, have also nominated for the second spot.<\/p>\n
Deeming was among four sitting conservative upper house MPs whose preselections have been challenged<\/a>.<\/p>\n Her initial preselection in 2022 created controversy due to her views on issues such as abortion<\/a> and transgender rights<\/a>.<\/p>\n Her profile then surged after she was expelled from the Liberal party room<\/a> in 2023.<\/p>\n Sign up for the Breaking News Australia email<\/a><\/p>\n The expulsion came after she threatened legal action against the then leader, John Pesutto, for his comments following her involvement in a rally gatecrashed by neo-Nazis. Deeming ultimately won the defamation fight<\/a>, leading to Pesutto losing the leadership in 2024.<\/p>\n She was brought back into the party room by his successor, Brad Battin, and appointed as the \u201cleader\u2019s representative to the western suburbs\u201d \u2013 a role that was not continued under the current leader, Jess Wilson.<\/p>\n Despite backing from high-profile conservatives, including the former prime minister Tony Abbott and media commentator Peta Credlin, Liberal sources have maintained for months that Deeming would not be able to stave off the challenge.<\/p>\n Gourisetty was understood to have built strong support across western suburbs branches, while the party\u2019s executive committee was skewing more moderate under president, Philip Davis<\/a>.<\/p>\n Wilson, who has said she will vote for every sitting MP in the preselection ballots, has provided Deeming with a reference describing her as an \u201carticulate and effective advocate for our party\u2019s values in a part of Melbourne where people are increasingly interested in voting for change\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Liberal party<\/a> needs candidates like Moira in Melbourne\u2019s west, which will be such an important battleground for the 2026 state election,\u201d Wilson wrote.<\/p>\n