In 1992, Dean, a long-time
Liberal Party activist, obtained preselection for the marginal
Labor Party seat of
Berwick; and, in the wake of the
1992 Kennett landslide, he easily defeated former Treasurer
Robert Jolly. After the
re-election of the
Kennett government in 1996 Dean was promoted to the position of Parliamentary Secretary for Justice which he held until the Liberals lost government at the
1999 election. Despite being associated with the forces opposed to
Denis Napthine's leadership, Dean was promoted to shadow cabinet after the election serving as shadow
Attorney-General and shadow minister for Aboriginal Affairs. In 2001, a redistribution carried out by the
Victorian Electoral Commission abolished his seat of Berwick as well as the neighbouring seat of
Pakenham held by former Deputy Leader
Robert Maclellan replacing them with the seat of
Gembrook. Dean narrowly won a bitter preselection for the new seat against Maclellan. In October 2002,
Robert Doyle launched a successful coup against Napthine's leadership. An ally of Doyle, Dean was promoted to the key position of shadow Treasurer. However, the following month it emerged that Dean had failed to update his address after he moved out of his residence in
Berwick after his preselection victory for Gembrook. As a result, his voting registration had lapsed, rendering him ineligible to run in the election. In Victoria, a prospective candidate must be a registered voter. Dean's political career was now effectively over. The incident derailed the Liberal campaign, with Treasurer
John Brumby loudly wondering how the Liberals could manage the economy if their own shadow Treasurer could not manage his own affairs. Doyle later spoke of how the issue cost the significant momentum in the campaign. ==References==