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The Liberal Party is facing a backlash from its members in the must-win seat of Pakenham, who say they are unwilling to volunteer in the upcoming election campaign after party chiefs sidelined them from handpicking their candidate.<\/p>\n
Pakenham, in Melbourne\u2019s outer south-east, is currently held by Labor\u2019s Emma Vulin by just 0.39 per cent, making it one of the most marginal seats up for grabs at November\u2019s state election.<\/p>\n
![\"Candidates](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/a4a4c382b727b2da44b03526ecbaf1e1d83beca9.jpeg\")
Candidates running for Pakenham (left to right): Alessandra Soliven for Labor, Radmila Dyson for the Liberal Party and Warren Pickering for One Nation.Ruby Alexander, Facebook<\/p>\n
Its status as a critical battleground has also been amplified by One Nation\u2019s Victorian leader Warren Pickering also vying for the seat<\/a>, as Pauline Hanson\u2019s party seeks to capitalise on its surging popularity to win Victorian lower house seats for the first time.<\/p>\n In 2022, Liberal candidate David Farrelly secured a swing of 1.8 per cent to the party, but just came up short.<\/p>\n The former long-time chair of Neighbourhood Watch in Cardinia sought to run again this year, as well as Maroondah City Council IT worker Monty Sodhi. But the party\u2019s state executive decided against holding a local preselection and instead intervened to tap soccer club volunteer Radmila Dyson to be their candidate.<\/p>\n Her preselection was confirmed on August 15, nine months after preselection applications closed in December. It also came after Labor chose 23-year-old Alessandra Soliven to replace incumbent MP Vulin \u2013 who will not recontest the seat after she was diagnosed with motor neurone disease<\/a> \u2013 and Pickering entered the fray.<\/p>\n Because marginally fewer than 40 members registered to vote for the Pakenham candidate, out of about 50 in the branch, the party\u2019s state executive invoked a rule to bypass grassroots members and call in the preselection, according to an email seen by The Age sent to members by the Pakenham state electorate conference chair.<\/p>\n The state executive \u2013 as well as a handful of branch office bearers \u2013 chose Dyson. A Liberal source, speaking anonymously to detail internal deliberations, said she was given special dispensation to run as a candidate because she had been a party member for less than a year.<\/p>\n Related Article Four Pakenham branch members, also speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal matters, said Farrelly or Sodhi would have probably won a democratic vote. A senior party official added: \u201cThe whole thing was orchestrated so Monty and David couldn\u2019t be elected.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThey didn\u2019t want an Indian candidate running in a lower house seat,\u201d the official alleged.<\/p>\n \u201c[The party] are trying to bring back people who have moved to One Nation, but in the meantime they have lost with the multicultural community and lost out on their heavy lifting on the ground.\u201d<\/p>\n Farrelly told The Age that members who otherwise would have volunteered for the party\u2019s bid in the electorate \u201cwill not be volunteering any more\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cI think the process the party engaged in right across the Victorian landscape for preselecting candidates failed drastically in a number of locations,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen you don\u2019t have local members contributing to the vote, you\u2019re not getting a true local representative and the membership voice isn\u2019t being reflected through those candidates.\u201d<\/p>\n Asked how the party was tracking for volunteers to support Dyson, Farrelly said: \u201cI wouldn\u2019t know where that is up to now, and I haven\u2019t been asked to help.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThat is unusual,\u201d he said. \u201cYou normally ask everyone you can. Especially people with experience, and I\u2019ve been a candidate and have worked on federal campaigns.\u201d<\/p>\n Responding to a detailed list of questions about the preselection process, a Liberal Party spokesperson said:\u201cThe Liberal Party is excited to have Radmilla [sic] Dyson running in Pakenham.\u201d<\/p>\n Asked if she needed permission to run as a candidate because she only joined in August last year, the spokesperson said: \u201cWe do not comment on internal matters.\u201d<\/p>\n Typically, members of local branches are invited to attend a preselection conference and cast their ballot to choose the party\u2019s candidate. A senior party source said local preselections went ahead in Williamstown, Frankston and Point Cook with just 19, 14 and 14 members allowed to cast votes alongside party chiefs.<\/p>\n The party\u2019s state executive also handpicked their preferred candidate \u2013 Moonee Valley councillor Samantha Byrne \u2013 in Niddrie in Melbourne\u2019s north-west, the seat held by Premier Ben Carroll.<\/p>\n That intervention also sparked a local backlash, with member Nigel Kibel sharing a post on Facebook declaring that \u201cstate executive deciding preselection is totally unacceptable\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cYesterday, the Liberal preselection in Niddrie took place, and once again it was determined that the locals did not have the numbers, so the state executive made the decision,\u201d the July post read. \u201cThis occurred after the new state president, Brian Loughnane, said that local members would be included.\u201d<\/p>\n In Pakenham, Indian radio station Radio Haanji reported that Sodhi\u2019s preselection bid had brought \u201chope for Australian-Indian political representation\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cAs a member of the Sikh community, Sodhi has expressed an interest in representing Pakenham not only as a local resident but also \u2026 [as someone] who is running [for] an ultra-marginal seat and also one of the few Australian-Indian(s) seeking public office in Victoria,\u201d the station said on Facebook.<\/p>\n Sodhi declined to comment.<\/p>\n Related Article The party\u2019s relationship with its Indian members was frayed earlier this year, after Dinesh Gourisetty was preselected to replace Moira Deeming on the party\u2019s upper house ticket in the Western Metropolitan region, only to be dumped<\/a> when it emerged he had given a character reference to a child abuser in 2024. Opposition Leader Jess Wilson said Gourisetty would not be welcome in her party room after the November election.<\/p>\n This masthead previously reported that western suburbs branches shed members in the wake of the saga.<\/p>\n Dyson, the party\u2019s Pakenham candidate, co-founded the popular Officer City Soccer Club and remains its treasurer. According to property records, she owns a home in Beaconsfield, which sits just outside the Pakenham electorate. She has worked in her family business and is raising twins, according to the Pakenham Officer Star News. This masthead tried to contact her directly but she did not respond.<\/p>\n A member of the Pakenham branch said they would not volunteer for the party\u2019s relatively new recruit.<\/p>\n \u201cThere were two [candidates] more deserving than her. They are Monty Sodhi and David Farrelly,\u201d the member said. \u201cWe have been ignored by the Liberal Party.\u201d<\/p>\n A second member, who joined the branch at the end of last year, also said they would limit the time they spent door-knocking in support of Dyson.<\/p>\n \u201cWhy should we [go door-knocking]? We are not things to use and throw away,\u201d they said. \u201c[During preselection] I felt we are considered second-class citizens. If the party calls on us for fundraising, why not during the preselection.\u201d<\/p>\n A third member similarly expressed doubt about helping during the campaign.<\/p>\n \u201cThey should have allowed us to vote \u2026 It\u2019s disappointing. If it is a democracy, there should be a vote count.\u201d<\/p>\n Save<\/p>\n You have reached your maximum number of saved items.<\/p>\n![\"David](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/5c6ef765fff0cbcaa755343e3109896630df7cae.jpeg\")
David Farrelly (centre) secured a small swing to the Liberal Party, but ultimately fell short in the contest for Pakenham in the 2022 election.Eamon Gallagher<\/p>\n![\"One](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/1790774412_616_2f83571aa14db3c667ddb36e5b9a5a8a11c9b306.jpeg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n![\"Radmila](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/51eb877fe3df01351b0866d4799b8b3c4f26006c.jpeg\")
Radmila Dyson, the Liberal Party candidate for Pakenham. Facebook<\/p>\n![\"Pakenham](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/89a8a467a9e0ea52a2c805a66fa134bc104ea1f4.jpeg\")
Pakenham hopeful Monty Sodhi.<\/p>\n![\"Moria](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/bba3da3cd7878820b7825c2b66bf782b37b7c6f0.jpeg\")
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