Conservative Liberals will challenge for top Victorian party roles

The husband of exiled Liberal MP Moira Deeming and a former MP who refused to join a standing ovation for family violence campaigner Rosie Batty want administrative roles in the Victorian Liberal Party in a move viewed as a test for Opposition Leader John Pesutto’s leadership.

Moderate Liberal Party members fear they will be targeted by conservative forces when the party meets to vote on key positions this month at the party’s state council meeting on July 27 and 28.

Former Liberal MP Graham Watt wants to be president of the state branch.Credit: Joe Armao

The Age has seen a leaked message from a WhatsApp group of conservative party members targeting 10 members seeking senior positions, including roles on the administrative committee, and listing reasons they shouldn’t receive support from the Right faction.

The list includes party president Philip Davis and Karyn Sobels, who has campaigned for more women in the party, as well as administrative committee members Holly Byrne and Cathrine Burnett-Wake, a former MP who the conservative members claim should be excluded from a role after she criticised extremism in politics during her valedictory speech.

Andrew Deeming, whose wife Moira is suing Pesutto over comments he made after she spoke at a rally gatecrashed by neo-Nazis, is hoping to retain a position as a state assembly delegate. Critics of Pesutto are framing any boost in support for Andrew Deeming as a vote on Pesutto’s leadership.

More than eight members, speaking to The Age on condition of anonymity to discuss internal party matters, confirmed that Andrew Deeming – a long-time member of the Victorian Liberal Party – was not publicly campaigning for his wife to be returned to the Liberal party room as part of his election pitch.

Former Liberal MP Graham Watt, who famously refused to stand for Batty when she addressed a historic joint sitting of the state parliament, will challenge party president Philip Davis for the key role leading the Victorian branch.

Watt, 47, works as a lawyer at a suburban law firm and is promising to “put mediocrity behind us” by recruiting new members, according to a leaked brochure sent to party members.

“For too long, we have been on a path of mediocrity. In Victoria, our parliamentary fortunes have followed our membership woes. It is time to put mediocrity behind us,” he wrote.

As Australian of the Year, Batty addressed the Victorian parliament in 2015, but the speech was overshadowed by Watt’s refusal to stand alongside every other member of the upper and lower house.

In her recent memoir, Batty, whose 11-year-old son, Luke, was murdered by his father at Tyabb cricket ground, said Watt’s actions “sucked the oxygen out of our campaign”.

At the time, Watt, who represented the seat of Burwood, said he chose to remain seated for “very personal and private reasons” and later apologised to Batty.

“Family violence is an issue of incredible sensitivity to me and my family and at some point I will be making a public contribution about the indiscriminate nature of family violence,” he said at the time.

Watt has gained strong support from the party’s Right faction, which is also backing a number of conservative Christian candidates for party positions.

Upper house Liberal MP Renee Heath is backing her father to win a role in the state party’s administration.Credit: Darrian Traynor

In a further test of Pesutto’s leadership, pastor Brian Heath, who leads the conservative City Builders Church which has historical links with gay conversion therapies, has also nominated for a state assembly role.

Heath is the father of upper house MP Renee Heath, who clashed with Pesutto last year over accusations she leaked the minutes of a meeting and was later dumped as party room secretary.

Renee Heath, who denies leaking the minutes, later emailed the entire Victorian Liberal party room claiming she had been bullied, and complained about the broader treatment of conservative women in the party.

When contacted about her father’s nomination on Tuesday, Renee Heath told The Age he had been “unfairly portrayed in the media in the past”.

“He is someone who brings people together. He is not afraid to stand up for people despite their background or culture – I hope that’s a trait I have inherited,” she said.

Candidates are not allowed to speak to the media. Pesutto’s office was contacted, but he declined to comment on internal party matters.

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