The Victorian Liberal Party has reopened applications for the number one position on its Western Metropolitan Region upper house ticket, setting up a potentially close contest between businessman and community leader Dinesh Gourisetty and Melbourne Deputy Lord Mayor Roshena Campbell.
A notice sent to Liberal Party members confirms the state executive has reopened applications for endorsement following the disendorsement of sitting MP Moira Deeming.
Nominations will close at 5 pm on Monday, July 27, with applicants required to submit a Legislative Council application for a Liberal-held seat and an Applicant Review Committee form.
The Australia Today understands Mr Gourisetty currently has the strongest level of support among members of the state executive and is regarded by party insiders as the early frontrunner.
However, Ms Campbell is expected to mount a serious challenge, with growing support for the barrister and Deputy Lord Mayor among influential Liberals who believe the party should select a high-profile woman capable of presenting a fresh public face after months of damaging internal disputes.
The contest is not expected to be decided through a conventional preselection involving local Liberal members. The party’s state executive is expected to select the replacement, giving its members direct control over one of the safest positions available to a Victorian Liberal candidate.
Mr Gourisetty previously defeated Mrs Deeming for the number one Western Metropolitan position in March, securing 37 votes to her 29. Sitting upper house MP Trung Luu received three votes before winning endorsement for the second position.
His victory was overturned the following day after it emerged he had provided a character reference.
Mr Gourisetty subsequently withdrew as candidate, prompting a hurried reopening of nominations. Mr Gourisetty later apologised for providing the reference and acknowledged that doing so had been a mistake.
Despite that controversy, Mr Gourisetty retains support among parts of the Liberal state executive and members connected with Melbourne’s Indian and multicultural communities.
His supporters argue that he won the original preselection through a democratic ballot and remains one of the party’s best-connected figures in the western suburbs.
Any renewed candidacy would attract scrutiny over whether the circumstances that led to his earlier removal have been addressed and whether he has cleared the party’s candidate-review process.
Ms Campbell is emerging as the strongest threat to Mr Gourisetty.
A barrister and former federal Liberal candidate, she has served as Melbourne’s Deputy Lord Mayor since the 2024 council election. She previously contested the federal seat of Aston at the 2023 by-election.
Party sources have described Ms Campbell as a strong candidate with public recognition, legal experience and the ability to communicate across mainstream media and business audiences.
Her selection would also place a woman at the top of the ticket following Mrs Deeming’s removal and could help the party draw a line under the bitter internal divisions surrounding the seat.
Earlier reporting identified Ms Campbell and Mr Luu as the initial frontrunners, with some Liberal MPs supporting the elevation of Mr Luu and others within the state executive favouring Ms Campbell.
However, the possible return of Mr Gourisetty has changed the internal calculation and could turn the decision into a direct contest between his established executive support and Ms Campbell’s growing momentum.
Mr Luu is also expected to be considered.
The former Victoria Police forensic officer has represented Western Metropolitan Region since the 2022 state election and is already endorsed for the second position on the Liberal ticket.
He has built his parliamentary profile around crime, community safety, multicultural representation and services in Melbourne’s west.
Several senior members of the parliamentary party have reportedly argued that the sitting MP should be elevated to the first position rather than requiring him to defend the less secure second spot.
Former Liberal leader and shadow police minister Brad Battin was reported to have urged senior party figures to support Mr Luu.
Other names being discussed include western suburbs community advocate Jenny Matic, former Maribyrnong federal candidate Tim Beddoe and former Werribee candidate Steve Murphy.
Mr Beddoe contested Maribyrnong at the 2025 federal election, securing 30.46 per cent of first preferences and 37.35 per cent after preferences against Labor’s Jo Briskey.
Mr Murphy came within 693 votes of winning the traditionally Labor-held seat of Werribee at the February 2025 by-election.
He received 28.98 per cent of first preferences and finished with 49.18 per cent after the distribution of preferences, delivering a two-party swing of more than 10 percentage points towards the Liberals.
Both men attempted to enter an earlier reopened Western Metropolitan contest before withdrawing, while other applications were ruled invalid amid criticism of the party’s rushed processes.
Ms Matic brings longstanding Liberal Party, multicultural and western suburbs experience and is regarded as a candidate capable of appealing to migrant communities across the region.
The vacancy was created when the Liberal state executive cancelled Mrs Deeming’s endorsement earlier this month following a prolonged dispute over allegations she made against former opposition leader Matthew Guy.
Mrs Deeming remains a member of the Victorian Legislative Council but will not appear as the Liberal Party’s lead Western Metropolitan candidate at the November election.
The number one position is considered highly valuable because the Liberals secured two Western Metropolitan seats at the 2022 election, with Mrs Deeming and Mr Luu both elected.
The region covers 11 lower house districts across Melbourne’s west, including Footscray, Kororoit, Laverton, Niddrie, Point Cook, St Albans, Sunbury, Sydenham, Tarneit, Werribee and Williamstown.
The reopening gives prospective candidates only a limited period to complete the application and review requirements before Monday’s 5 pm deadline.
Until applications close, it remains unclear whether every person being discussed will formally nominate.
But Liberal sources increasingly view the contest as a battle between Mr Gourisetty’s support within the state executive and Ms Campbell’s attempt to build a winning coalition around experience, profile and electoral appeal.
The eventual decision will show whether the party prioritises its original preselection winner, a high-profile city representative, its sitting Western Metropolitan MP or a candidate with a recent electoral record in Melbourne’s west.
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