Greg Mirabella quits Victorian Liberal presidency to run for Senate

Former Victorian upper house leader Phil Davis is expected to nominate as Greg Mirabella’s replacement.

Victorian Liberal Party president Greg Mirabella. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Martin Ollman

Victorian Liberal Party president Greg Mirabella has announced plans to step down to pursue preselection for the Senate, just over a year after taking on the role and ahead of Saturday’s by-­election for the state seat of ­Warrandyte.

The farmer, former soldier and senator and husband of former federal frontbencher Sophie Mirabella made the announcement in a newsletter sent to party members on Tuesday, ahead of September’s annual general meeting.

Mr Mirabella has butted heads with multiple other senior party figures since taking on the job unopposed in July 2022, having publicly excoriated the party amid a woeful state election loss in November and federal by-election loss in the seat of Aston in April.

It is understood he was strongly encouraged to step aside by party powerbrokers, with former upper house Liberal leader Phil Davis expected to nominate for the presidency.

“It is with mixed feelings that I announce that I am not renominating as president of the Victorian Division and that my term will finish at the forthcoming State Council on 23 September,” Mr Mirabella said in an email to Liberal members.

“This has not been an easy decision, but I do so in the context of my decision to seek preselection on the party’s Senate ticket for the next federal election, and my wish to avoid any perception of conflict of interest,” he wrote.

“It has been an honour and a great responsibility to serve our party and I thank so many of you for your support, advice and encouragement.”

Nominations for Liberal Senate preselection close this week, necessitating the timing of Mr Mirabella’s announcement, which comes despite Saturday’s Warrandyte by-election that is being seen as a crucial test of John Pesutto as Opposition Leader.

While Labor has chosen not to run a candidate in the leafy outer northeastern Melbourne seat and Liberal candidate ­Nicole Werner is widely expected to win, any swing against the party is likely to put pressure on Mr Pesutto.

Mr Mirabella’s previous Senate stint began after he defeated former Josh Frydenberg adviser and Liberal state director Simon Frost in a preselection to replace retiring Senate president Scott Ryan in 2021.

His stint in Canberra was short-lived after the Coalition failed to get three senators elected at the May 2022 federal election, losing the spot to United Australia Party candidate Ralph Babet.

Mr Mirabella had earlier failed in a 2019 attempt to enter the Senate, losing to Sarah Henderson as she rebounded after she had lost the lower house seat of Corangamite.

This time, Mr Mirabella is vying for third spot ahead of a federal election due to be held by May 2025, as senators Jane Hume and James Paterson ­battle each other for top billing.