Victorian Liberal MP Renee Heath has comfortably retained the top Liberal position for Eastern Victoria in the party’s upper house preselection, defeating moderate-backed challenger Sue Smethurst in a result that again highlights the internal factional divide inside the Victorian opposition ahead of the November election.
Heath is the sitting Liberal member for Eastern Victoria and currently serves in the shadow ministry as Shadow Minister for Youth Justice, Shadow Minister for Crime Prevention and Victim Support, and Shadow Minister for Bay Protection.
The contest had been closely watched inside Liberal ranks after reports earlier this year that a senior Liberal powerbroker had approached Smethurst to challenge Heath for the Eastern Victoria upper house spot. At the time, the challenge was seen as part of a broader moderate push during preselection season, with Heath’s supporters arguing she still had strong backing in the branches and the parliamentary party.
Party insiders told The Australia Today that Heath secured 59 votes to Smethurst’s 31, giving the conservative right faction member a decisive victory. The result will be seen as a significant internal win for Heath and her supporters, particularly given the lead Liberal position in Eastern Victoria remains one of the party’s most valuable upper house spots.
That position matters because Eastern Victoria has historically been one of the stronger Coalition regions in the Legislative Council. At the 2022 Victorian election, the Liberal–Nationals ticket won enough support to return both Heath for the Liberals and Melina Bath for the Nationals, underlining the importance of the top Liberal slot on the ticket.
At least three delegates who voted in the preselection told The Australia Today that federal Liberal frontbencher and Shadow Defence Minister Senator James Paterson personally called delegates to lobby on Heath’s behalf. The same delegates also said Opposition Leader Jess Wilson made her support for Heath “loud and clear” during the contest.
If accurate, the intervention would show how seriously senior Liberals treated the preselection battle, with Heath’s future carrying broader significance for the ideological balance inside the party. Wilson, who became Victorian Liberal leader late last year, has been trying to project stability after another turbulent period for the opposition.
Heath’s political rise has long drawn attention within the Liberal Party. In 2022, she won Liberal endorsement for Eastern Victoria by defeating sitting MP Cathrine Burnett-Wake in a narrow 55–53 contest.
Since then, Heath has not only entered Parliament but strengthened her place inside the parliamentary Liberal team. Her comfortable preselection win over Smethurst now suggests that, despite periodic attempts by moderates to challenge her, she retains a solid organisational base and significant factional support.
For Smethurst and the moderate faction, the result is a setback in what had been viewed as a serious test of Heath’s internal standing. For Heath, it is both a personal victory and a sign that the conservative right remains a powerful force in the Victorian Liberals as the party heads towards the 2026 state election.
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