By Henrietta Cook and Royce Millar
It was his death letter - but Ted Baillieu did not know it at the time.
Shortly before Ted Baillieu opened a letter announcing Geoff Shaw's resignation from the Liberal Party on Wednesday the controversial Frankston backbencher was chatting with a security guard on the steps of Parliament House.
Geoff Shaw leaving Parliament after resigning from the Liberal party.Credit: Joe Armao
When asked by a passing Fairfax reporter if much was going on, Shaw smiled and said: ''There's always great things happening in Frankston.''
Few in the Liberal Party or beyond, even those close to Shaw, had any idea of the bombshell that he was about to drop.
And while his move to the crossbenches might be a weight off Shaw's mind, it proved an overload on Baillieu's shoulders.
In fact, Shaw's surprise departure from the Liberal Party (voluntary or not) relegated the Coalition to minority government status, burying it further in a mire of political crisis, culminating in last night's party meeting.
Shaw also ensured that - even as an independent - the spotlight would remain on him.
He will continue to be a problem for the Coalition and a magnet for controversy, as he has been since he took Frankston from Labor in 2010.
In his maiden speech the evangelical Christian mocked the politically correct acknowledgment of Aborigines as the ''original owners'' of this country by granting God that honour.
He then made headlines in April 2011 by questioning a young gay man's desire to love whomever he wanted, likening it to a hoon's urge to speed or a sex offender's desire to molest children.
A few months later it emerged that Shaw was charged in 1992 over an assault while he was working as a bouncer in Frankston. In August 2011 he was allegedly involved in a scuffle with a motorist during a road rage incident in Frankston.
Shaw also admitted to hanging up a sign over a busy Frankston road pleading forgiveness from his estranged wife: ''Please forgive me, I love you Sally.''
But real trouble came when allegations were aired about him inappropriately using his taxpayer-funded car.
In October, Victorian Ombudsman George Brouwer found that Shaw inappropriately used his parliamentary Ford Territory to run his hardware business, with Shaw and his employees using the vehicle to drive around Victoria, NSW and South Australia.
Police are now investigating Shaw over allegations of misconduct in public office. The Australian Electoral Commission is examining Shaw's fund-raising after Fairfax revealed he had run a little-known 1500 Club, not registered with the commission.
Throughout, the Coalition defended the troubled MP, even when he simulated masturbation in the chamber in October and allegedly yelled ''wanker'' at the opposition.
The view in Frankston is divided. Deputy Frankston mayor Colin Hampton said his view was that Shaw had damaged Frankston's image.
But former Frankston Liberal treasurer Denise Bellmaine said: ''He is the hardest-working MP we've ever seen. Everyone in Frankston adores him.''