Victorian Liberals to hold another preselection after candidate who defeated Moira Deeming withdraws

Dinesh Gourisetty ‘not welcome’ in party after revelations he provided court reference for a friend convicted of sexually assaulting a child Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast The Victorian Liberals will hold another preselection convention to elect a candidate for a top spot on the party’s upper house ticket, after it was revealed the man who replaced Moira Deeming wrote a court character reference for a friend who was convicted of grooming a 15-year-old girl. Dinesh Gourisetty, who defeated Deeming on Sunday in a preselection vote for the party’s candidates for the western metropolitan region at the upcoming November election, has told the executive he did not want to step down after the revelations. But Victorian Liberal leader, Jess Wilson, said he was “not welcome” on her team and party president, Philip Davis, issued a statement on Monday afternoon saying Gourisetty had withdrawn his candidacy. “After yesterday’s preselection convention had concluded, the Liberal party received information concerning Mr Dinesh Gourisetty which is considered to be of a serious nature,” Davis said. Davis said the ex