Victorian Liberal Candidate Faces Immediate Backlash After Court Reference Revelation
The Victorian Liberal Party has been plunged into crisis after it was revealed that Dinesh Gourisetty, who recently defeated controversial MP Moira Deeming in a preselection battle, wrote a character reference for a friend convicted of grooming and sexually assaulting a 15-year-old girl. Opposition Leader Jess Wilson has declared Gourisetty "not welcome on my team" and called for his immediate removal from the party's upper house ballot for the November state election.
Preselection Victory Overshadowed by Court Document
Gourisetty secured the top spot on the Liberal Party's western metropolitan region ballot on Sunday, defeating Deeming with 39 votes to 26 in a preselection convention. However, his victory was short-lived when party executives learned he had provided a court character reference for Kashyap Patel, who was convicted in 2024 of grooming, sexually assaulting, and transmitting indecent communication to a child under 16.
Patel, a 40-year-old married father of two at the time of the 2021 offenses, received a nine-month prison sentence. In sentencing remarks, Judge Peter Rozen noted Patel was "a man of otherwise good character as set out in the three character references filed with the court," including one from Gourisetty, who was described as "a good friend of four years."
Gourisetty's Defense and Party Leadership's Response
In a letter to the party executive obtained by media outlets, Gourisetty claimed he was unaware Patel would plead guilty when he wrote the reference. "I had been led to believe Mr. Patel was contesting the charges and maintaining his innocence," he wrote, adding that the reference "was drafted by a lawyer and reflected only my personal experience of him as a party member and volunteer."
Gourisetty emphasized that he "strongly and unequivocally condemn[s] the actions for which Mr. Patel has now been convicted" and stated the actions were "unacceptable." He defended his actions by citing precedents where former Prime Ministers Tony Abbott and John Howard provided character references for individuals facing serious allegations.
Despite his defense, Wilson issued a firm statement: "Mr. Gourisetty is not welcome on my team. I have made that clear to the party organization this morning." The opposition leader had previously lobbied delegates to support Deeming during the preselection process.
Internal Party Conflict and Conflicting Accounts
The situation has exposed deep divisions within the Victorian Liberal Party. Party President Philip Davis informed the executive committee that Gourisetty had "advised me this morning he has withdrawn as the candidate." However, Gourisetty contradicted this account, stating that while he considered stepping aside in a "moment of distress," he had not formally withdrawn and did not intend to do so.
An executive committee member not aligned with Davis sent an email accusing the "party's factional left" of backing a "pedophile supporter" and questioning the vetting process with the phrase "wtf." The member added that "ditching Moira was always going to be a disaster" even before learning about the court document.
A senior Liberal source claimed there was "no way" Gourisetty would have been preselected if this information had been known earlier, suggesting the timing of the revelation was designed to cause "maximum damage" to moderate factions on the executive committee.
Background and Political Implications
Gourisetty, who has worked for the Liberals for 15 years, previously failed to win preselection in 2022 partly due to pleading guilty to breaches of the Food Safety Act in 2019. His recent success was attributed to support from multiple branches in Melbourne's western suburbs and within the party's executive committee, which has shifted toward moderate positions under Davis's leadership.
The controversy has renewed political maneuvering, with One Nation renewing its defection offer to Moira Deeming, whom it described as "courageous" following her removal from the election ticket. The preselection results saw Trung Luu, another Liberal MP representing the region, retain the second position on the ballot with three votes after a separate vote that Deeming did not contest.
As the Victorian Liberal Party grapples with this scandal, questions remain about candidate vetting processes and internal factional conflicts that continue to plague the opposition just months before a crucial state election.
