Victorian Liberals expel upper house MP Bernie Finn

Victorian Liberals have passed a motion to expel upper house MP Bernie Finn from the party.

Former Liberal MP Bernie Finn. Picture: NCA NewsWire / David Crosling

Victorian Liberals have passed a motion to expel upper house MP Bernie Finn from the party, with leader Matthew Guy saying the move was about fostering ­“respectful discourse”.

Mr Finn dubbed the move to bypass the preselection process “undemocratic”, declaring he would “not be bullied by Matthew Guy” and vowing to recontest the November state election, possibly as a member of a minor party.

Mr Guy denied Mr Finn’s expulsion set a dangerous precedent for the party kicking members out for holding views other MPs did not agree with.

“I don’t think it’s about that at all. I think I’ve made it clear the whole week that it’s not about what people are saying – it’s how it’s said and it’s about behaviour.”

Asked what was particularly disrespectful about Mr Finn’s behaviour, Mr Guy said: “Well, I’m not going to go over every single one of it, but I think you’ve seen enough examples over the last few weeks but also months before, referring to Hitler, for instance.”

A fortnight ago, Mr Finn resigned as opposition whip after Mr Guy publicly rebuked comments he had made on social media stating that he was “praying” for abortion to be banned in Australia, in response to the leaked US Supreme Court draft decision on the issue.

He subsequently publicly declared that rape victims should not be given access to abortion.

In January 2021, he shared conspiracy theories on his Facebook page, claiming Donald Trump had been “improperly” removed from office and was a victim of election fraud.

Last May, he posted a meme asking his followers to nominate whether a Chinese rocket “should land” on the ABC, broadcaster Waleed Aly, Premier Daniel Andrews or Greens senator Lidia Thorpe, and more recently he likened the Premier to Hitler.

Mr Finn said he had not yet decided whether he would try to form his own party, join another conservative minor party, or even recontest Liberal preselection.

“We’ve found out a lot about a lot of people this week, and there are some lessons we will remember in November,” he said.

Mr Finn first entered parliament in 1992, as the lower house member for Tullamarine. Voted out in 1999, he returned as an upper house MP in 2006.