By Callum Godde, Aap
Victorian Liberal Ryan Smith did not inform his party leader before quitting parliament and triggering a by-election test for the party amid simmering internal tensions.
The veteran MP and former minister has been the member for Warrandyte in Melbourne’s east for 16 years and his last day will be July 7.
“I have become increasingly uncomfortable with the growing negative tone of politics, both internally and more broadly,” Mr Smith said in the statement on Wednesday.
He served as minister for environment and youth affairs during the Baillieu and Napthine government, before holding multiple shadow portfolios when the Liberals returned to opposition in 2014.
Victorian Liberal leader John Pesutto learned of Mr Smith’s resignation when he read his statement, which did not thank or mention the party’s leadership team.
He refrained from criticising Mr Smith for exiting politics about six months after he was re-elected for another four-year term.
“These things happen. People contest elections in the hope and expectation that we would win,” Mr Pesutto told reporters.
The Liberal Party has been beset by internal ruptures between conservative and more moderate members since last year’s state election.
Most recently it has been dealing with fallout of expelling first-term MP Moira Deeming after she attended an anti-transgender rights rally and threatened Mr Pesutto with defamation action.
At this month’s state conference in Bendigo, Mr Pesutto was booed and heckled by Ms Deeming’s supporters.
The saga prompted Opposition Leader Peter Dutton to flag the prospect of federal intervention in the Victorian branch if it could not resolve its issues.
Mr Pesutto expects the Warrandyte by-election to be held in mid-to-late August, four months after the coalition’s historic by-election loss in the nearby federal seat of Aston.
The Victorian Liberal leader plans to work closely with party administrators on a preselection pick in a bid to boost its chance of retaining the seat.
“We’re going to throw everything at it,” he said.
Mr Pesutto wants a woman to be considered for preselection, with 21 of the 30 Victorian Liberals’ MPs being men.
Mr Smith put his hand up as a leadership contender after the coalition’s election thumping before swinging his support behind Berwick MP Brad Battin, who lost to Mr Pesutto by a single vote.
He was then not included in Mr Pesutto’s shadow cabinet.
In November, the Warrandyte MP received roughly 47 per cent of the primary vote to comfortably fend off Labor’s candidate Naomi Oakley.
Premier Daniel Andrews said it was a matter for the Victorian Labor Party whether it contests the by-election but wished Mr Smith well.
“To be your local community’s voice is an enormous privilege,” he said.
“When others lost their seats out east he hung on to his and that means something. It means he works hard.”
It will be the first Victorian state by-election to be held since 2017, when Northcote MP Fiona Richardson died after a battle with cancer.
The Liberals won a supplementary election for the regional Victorian seat of Narracan in January after the sudden death of Nationals candidate Shaun Gilchrist.
