2022 leadership election Following the
Liberal−National Coalition's defeat at the
2022 Victorian state election,
Matthew Guy announced he would resign as Liberal leader. At a
leadership election on 8 December 2022,
John Pesutto − who had been elected as the member for
Hawthorn at the state election − defeated
Brad Battin, the member for
Berwick, by 17 votes to 16.
Deeming expulsion and defamation case On 18 March 2023, Liberal MP
Moira Deeming spoke at an anti-trans rally organised by
Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshull, a British anti-trans activist. The rally was also attended by the neo-Nazi group
National Socialist Network (NSN) and its leader
Thomas Sewell. In a public statement, Pesutto described Deeming's position as "untenable" due to her "involvement in organising, promoting and participating in a rally with speakers and other organisers who themselves have been publicly associated with far right-wing extremist groups including neo-Nazi activists". He then moved to expel her from the Liberal
party room. On 12 May 2023, Liberal MPs voted 19 votes to 11 to expel her from the party room. Deeming moved to the
crossbench and sat as an
Independent Liberal. In December 2023, after months of attempted mediation failed, Deeming filled a civil complaint against Pesutto, saying that she had been falsely accused of being an associate of "neo-Nazi sympathisers and extremists". Pesutto denied Deeming's claims, stating that he had never called her a "neo-Nazi, white supremacist or anything similar".
Defamation verdict and Deeming readmission vote On 12 December 2024, the
Federal Court of Australia ruled that Pesutto had defamed Deeming, and he was ordered to pay her $300,000. Pesutto said he was "very disappointed" by the verdict, but would not step down as leader. One day later,
Nepean MP
Sam Groth resigned from the
shadow ministry, saying that "in good conscience, [he could] no longer continue to serve" in his roles as Shadow Minister for Youth and Shadow Minister for Tourism, Sport and Events. A vote was held on 20 December 2024 on a motion to readmit Deeming to the Liberal party room. The vote was tied at 14−14 (with two MPs absent) and Pesutto used his
casting vote to break the tie, although he said it was technically not needed because the motion required an "absolute majority" of 16 out of 30 MPs to pass.
Spill announced On 22 December 2024, Pesutto called a second meeting to discuss readmitting Deeming, which would be held on 15 January 2025. He said that since the meeting on 20 December, "it has become clear that there is now a definite absolute majority of my colleagues who want this issue resolved". Several hours later,
The Age reported that Pesutto was going to face a leadership challenge from
Brad Battin on 27 December 2024. The meeting was expected to result in a vote on Deeming's readmission and the leadership spill. On 24 December (
Christmas Eve), Pesutto emailed Liberal MPs to inform them that he would allow members to vote remotely at the meeting, with
Cindy McLeish and
Nick McGowan unable to attend in-person.
The Australian reported on 26 December that Battin had called Pesutto to inform him that he would challenge for the leadership.
Kew MP
Jess Wilson announced publicly on the same day that if a spill motion was successful, she would contest the leadership. According to
The Guardian, Battin had earlier been asked by
moderates to have Wilson as his deputy for the sake of
factional balance, however Wilson did not contest the deputy leadership after realising she did not have the numbers needed to win. ==Candidates==