Chiro wins Lib preselection despite ties to controversial religious group

A Liberal Party member with ties to a controversial religious group has beaten a sitting MP to take top spot on the party’s Eastern Victoria ticket.

Opposition Leader Matthew Guy threw his support behind Renee Heath.

A Liberal Party member with ties to a controversial religious group has beaten sitting MP Cathrine Burnett-Wake to top spot on the party’s Eastern Victoria ticket.

Renee Heath, who is a member of the Liberal administrative committee, will almost certainly be elected to the upper house after winning a close ballot 55 votes to 53.

The daughter of City Builders Church senior pastor Brian Heath, Dr Heath also challenged Ms Burnett-Wake to replace retiring MP Ed O’Donohue in November but lost.

The Herald Sun revealed last year that former members of the City Builders Church had undergone alarming gay conversion practices, although the church has distanced itself from the claims.`

“Our church is not preoccupied with anyone’s sexual identity – we are focused on the spiritual growth of the individual,” Mr Heath said at the time.

Liberal MP Cathrine Burnett-Wake.

A senior Liberal figure said Dr Heath had won crucial late votes with an impressive speech that allayed any concerns about her affiliation with the church.

Dr Heath’s “body of work” for the party and articulation of her values gave her an advantage over relative newcomer Ms Burnett-Wake, the source suggested.

Opposition Leader Matthew Guy said Dr Heath, a chiropractor from Sale, should not be measured by her father’s career.

“Renee is not her father, she’s not her uncle, she is herself,” Mr Guy said. “She’s a professional woman, she’s in the health field … I’d ask people to judge Renee by Renee, and not anyone else.”

Mr Guy declined to say if he was disappointed at the loss of Ms Burnett-Wake, who had campaigned last week with Mr Guy and preselected former tennis player Sam Groth on the Mornington Peninsula.

“The party is a democracy … we’re not like Labor, we don’t sit behind closed doors in a smoke-filled room full of drinks working out who’s going to do what,” he said.