Liberal Candidate Drops Out After Child Sex Crime Reference

0:00It's March 30th, from your city to your ears. This is Sydney News Today, powered by AI. I'm Cory with the story. A liberal party hopeful, named Dinesh Gorsetti, grabbed the top spot on the western metropolitan ticket just this Sunday, beating out controversial MP. Moira Deaming, with help from the moderate wing. But the very next day, he pulled out of the race after it came out, that he wrote a character reference for a guy convicted of child sex crimes. A guy, Kasha Patel, got hit with nine months in prison, plus a two-year community correction order back in 2024. He pleaded guilty to grooming a kid under 16, sending indecent messages to one, and sexual assault on a minor. The judge even mentioned Gorsetti's reference in court, calling him a good friend to Patel. Opposition leader Jess Wilson shetted down quick, saying Gorsetti is not welcome on her team, and telling party bosses that morning. Deaming, the one he beat, has her own wild history, she got suspended over a rally crashed by neo-Nazis, expelled after threatening legal action against the former leader, and won a defamation case that cost him $2.3 million in legal fees.

1:12Now the party's state executive has to decide if they restart the whole pre-selection process since it wasn't fully endorsed yet, that could open the door for Deaming to snag the top position ahead of the November election. With the Victorian poll just weeks away, this mess leads the liberal scrambling in the Western suburbs, testing how deep those moderate conservative. Rifts really run.