Former Victorian Labor premier Steve Bracks says he dumped Sir James Gobbo as governor after only serving three years in 2000 because he was a member of a Liberal-dominated lunch club called the Rumour Tank.
In an extract of his memoirs published in the Herald Sun, Mr Bracks says he never told Sir James the reason behind his termination and had not questioned him about his lunch club connection.
The paper says Sir James will be shocked to learn the reason behind his axing.
"The get-togethers involved a range of people, but included (former Liberal premier) Jeff Kennett and other Liberal Party identities," Mr Bracks writes.
"There's nothing wrong with a lunch club, but the Rumour Tank also discussed state political matters and made some commentary on them."
A source close to Sir James said he had attended just two lunch club meetings in the period he was governor.
Mr Bracks wrote that if he had brought up his concerns they may have gone public and caused controversy for the office of the Victorian governor.