Nicole Ta-Ei Werner addresses media after being preselected as Libs candidate for Warrandyte

A day after being preselected to run for the Liberal Party in the Warrandyte by-election, Nicole Ta-Ei Werner says she’s confident the party can retain the seat.

Nicole Ta-Ei Werner is the former candidate for Box Hill and is running in the upcoming by-election in the state seat of Warrandyte.

Liberal Party candidate Nicole Ta-Ei Werner says she is confident the party can retain the seat of Warrandyte at a looming byelection.

Ms Ta-Ei Werner held her first press conference on Monday, just a day after winning out over eight other candidates, including former IPA executive director John Roskam and 22-year-old law student Antonietta Di Cosmo for preselection.

Ms Ta-Ei Werner is the daughter of immigrant parents who arrived in Box Hill from Malaysia in 1987.

Liberals have hailed her preselection as a win for the party in embracing youth, women and multiculturalism.

Ms Werner said while living outside the electorate she was a passionate local who had grown up within its boundaries.

And she shrugged off comprisons to her result at last year’s state election, when her run as the candidate for Box Hill ended in a significant 8.9 per cent swing against the Liberals.

“It’s a different proposition to hold a seat than to win a seat,” she said.

“The results that we saw in Box Hill were not isolated to Box Hill.

“There was a swing against us, unfortunately, and it’s a different proposition this time around.”

Opposition Leader John Pesutto says the preselection result will now be put to the party’s Administrative Committee for endorsement. Picture: David Crosling

Ms Ta-Ei Werner refused to be drawn on the Moira Deeming affair, saying she has no view on how the party handled her expulsion, or into concerns about her own conservative Christian views as a former Pentecostal pastor.

“My single focus is winning this by election,” she said.

“No one is raising that (Mrs Deeming) with me locally.

“People are talking to me about the cost of living pressures, people are talking to me about energy prices. That is not an issue that’s been raised here.

“I am proud of my work as a youth pastor”.

Opposition Leader John Pesutto said he would be joining Ms Ta-Ei Werner in her campaign efforts in the area, vowing to doorknock as part of the effort.

But he said the byelection was not a test of his leadership and refused to say if he would step down if the party lost the seat it has held since 1988.

In her pitch to delegates Ms Werner said she was most interested in youth affairs, cost of living, education and health.

“Fresh from my run as the candidate for a key seat in the 2022 state election, I can’t wait to take the fight up to Labor and start knocking on doors and pressing the flesh again,” she said.

“I am invigorated by the thought of campaigning and winning the hearts and minds of every constituent that I can.

“I know what it takes to engage in a fierce, high-profile political contest and with that, I bring a wealth of experience and energy.

“I know in order to hold the Labor Government to account, you need to be able to get media attention and cut-through. I know I can.”

At November’s election Ms Ta-Ei Werner secured 42.77 per cent of the vote compared to 57.23 per cent of incumbent Box Hill Labor MP Paul Hamer.

She is linked to the party’s religious right faction.

In her pitch to delegates, Ms Di Cosmo said the party had much to offer young Victorians.

“Our opponents’ narrative is that if you want to be seen and heard as a young female, stay away from the Liberals,” she said.

“That has not been my experience. The Liberal Party has so much to offer young Victorians, but we are not very good at telling that story.

“Young people want to know they have a seat at the table.”

Opposition Leader John Pesutto said the preselection result would now be put to the party’s Administrative Committee for endorsement.

“Nicole is a very talented young woman with a strong connection to the electorate and represents the future of the Liberal Party in Victoria,” he said.

“My colleagues and I look forward to campaigning with Nicole in what will be a hard-fought by-election.

“The Warrandyte by-election is an opportunity for the people of Warrandyte to send a strong message to the Andrews Labor government about its record debt and taxes, broken promises and budget cuts that are making life harder for workers, families and small businesses.”

Government Minister Gabrielle Williams said it was ultimately a matter for the Labor Party to determine whether it would put forward a candidate in the Warrandyte by-election.

“We don’t get involved in those things,” she said.

Ms Williams was asked whether the Liberal Party candidate’s failure to win the seat of Box Hill in last year’s state election would determine if Labor ran someone in the seat.

“I’m sure those are all considerations being weighed up by head office currently as they work through whether they think it’s viable to run a candidate,” she said.