Another senior Victorian Liberal to fall on his sword
Victorian Liberal state director Nick Demiris is expected to become the latest senior party figure to quit his post following November’s crushing election loss.
Arrangements for Mr Demiris’ resignation were under way at a meeting of the party’s powerful administrative committee on Thursday night.
He is expected to be replaced by former state director Simon Frost.
The resignation came as the party reeled from revelations in The Age of derogatory messages exchanged between young powerbrokers Marcus Bastiaan and Paul Mitchell.
The pair faced calls to resign from their positions within the party after messages showed Mr Mitchell referred to Indian party members as “curries” while Mr Bastian described others as “fag Catholics”.
Mr Bastiaan and Mr Mitchell responded through their lawyers to the initial story on Wednesday, both vigorously denying involvement in the text and Facebook exchanges.
It is believed Mr Demiris’ resignation was endorsed overwhelmingly by the administrative committee.
Mr Demiris’ resignation follows that of former Victorian president Michael Kroger and former opposition leader Matthew Guy.
The party is still without an official treasurer after David Mond quit that post, making explosive allegations of mismanagement on his colleagues on the way out.