The Liberal Party has replaced Grant Hutchinson as its Croydon candidate less than seven weeks before Victoria’s November 28 election, after the Victorian opposition said new information about a civil case had come to light. The move puts the party’s candidate-selection process at the centre of a contest for a marginal Melbourne eastern seat it holds by 1.4 per cent.
Opposition leader Jess Wilson said the party had disendorsed Hutchinson after learning further details about a lawsuit he brought against his own law firm. “It’s no longer appropriate for him to be a candidate,” Wilson said. Asked whether she was confident in the party’s vetting, she replied, “Yes,” adding: “As I said ... new information has come to light.”
The Selection Decision
Hutchinson was removed on Monday night. The lawsuit, which prompted a counterclaim, had been public knowledge since last year and some media had reported on it. One Liberal figure said the party worried the case could drag on. A separate source said people familiar with the court case were bewildered by the decision: the case was well known in political circles, and no recent developments had emerged.
Those sources also questioned how the replacement was chosen. People familiar with the case suspected Toby Wooldridge was the preferred candidate, while a third source called the change a “captain’s pick.” Wooldridge will stand for Croydon. The report doesn’t say the party has publicly explained how it chose him.
Wilson sits on the state executive that voted to disendorse Hutchinson on Monday night. Hutchinson didn’t respond to requests for comment. He is a senior lawyer and a member of the party’s religious right. The party endorsed him last year, a decision the report said astounded some Liberal members.
Family Ties and Party Stakes
Wooldridge is the son of former federal Liberal minister Michael Wooldridge and nephew of former MP Mary Wooldridge. His candidacy follows Hutchinson’s removal as the party prepares for the November 28 election. Longstanding Croydon member David Hodgett is retiring after 20 years in parliament.
The Liberal Party holds the seat by 1.4 per cent and would expect to extend its lead at the election. That narrow margin gives the candidate decision particular importance in the party’s campaign, while the supplied report identifies no changes to electorate boundaries or voting rules.
The Croydon decision comes amid other candidate disputes inside the party. The Liberal Party also removed current MP Moira Deeming as a candidate in a separate endorsement dispute and declined to endorse Dinesh Gourisetty after his preselection. The report gives no further details about either dispute.
Campaign material appeared on Hutchinson’s Instagram account, which has since been deleted. The report identifies no public explanation from Hutchinson for the lawsuit or the party’s decision. Wilson said new information had come to the party’s attention; sources quoted in the report said the case was already known in political circles. Those competing accounts leave the candidate change and the party’s handling of its endorsement process at the centre of the Croydon contest.