The Victorian Liberals keep telling conservative voters they're a broad church. But somehow, with the state election only weeks away, one of the last outspoken conservatives they had left on the ticket got a phone call telling him he was no longer the candidate.

Grant Hutchinson was endorsed for Croydon almost a year ago. Then, just six weeks out from polling day, he was dis-endorsed. The official line points to a pending legal matter. A party insider, a member of more than 20 years who asked me not to name them, sat down with me to explain why they don't buy it for a second.

According to the insider, that legal matter was disclosed upfront during the party's vetting process, cleared before pre-selection, and even raised at the convention itself. Hutchinson still won on the first round with a majority. The insider describes the case as a partnership dispute that Hutchinson himself brought to protect his law firm's name and his wife's reputation, not an action against him. If it didn't stop him then, I'd love to know what changed now.

The insider's answer is blunt. They called it "literally a factional hit", alleging the party's moderate faction never wanted Hutchinson and has now installed Toby Wooldridge, whom they describe as a heavy hitter in that grouping. They say Hutchinson had no idea it was coming and was given no right of reply. "In the 20 plus years that I've been a member of the Liberal Party, I've never seen this happen," they told me.

Go Ad Free

What surprised me most was how little the so-called conservative wing did about it. Dis-endorsement needs a two-thirds vote of the executive, and the insider claims only one member didn't vote for it. They argue the Victorian "right" isn't really defined by social values at all, pointing out that its supposed leader, Bev McArthur, is pro-abortion.

Then there's the money. The insider says people who donated and volunteered for Hutchinson since last year have asked for refunds, because they were backing him rather than his replacement, and claims the party simply said no. They also allege Hutchinson personally gave above the normal donation cap, something only possible because he was the candidate, and that the party has kept it. Tens of thousands of dollars, by their estimate. Whether that holds up legally is an open question, but the insider's view is that if the party wants a new candidate, surely he can raise his own funds.

Perhaps the most telling part came at the end. Despite two decades in the party, the insider told me there isn't a single seat in Victoria where they'd put the Liberals first. They say volunteers on the ground are saying the same thing and moving their vote to One Nation.