Photo Caption: Former Pakenham Liberal Candidate David Farrelly. (Stewart Chambers)

Hostilities continue in the Liberal Party’s current preselection battle for the seat of Pakenham, with party insiders revealing that the Liberal Party state headquarters was called upon to discipline former candidate David Farrelly after the local branch complained he was “misrepresenting” and “causing division.”
Mr Farrelly, who represented the Liberal Party in the 2022 state election, lost the new seat of Pakenham by just 300 votes. It is understood he intends to nominate in the upcoming and highly contested preselection to run for Pakenham again in 2026.
As reported by the Gazette previously, local party sources claimed members were frustrated with federal La Trobe MP Jason Wood’s favourable association with another hopeful Pakenham candidate, Monty Sodhi.
However, a senior party source has claimed Mr Farrelly is also a subject of internal hostilities, revealing that the branch made formal complaints against him and alleging that the former candidate has “lost support.“
It is claimed the electorate was seen as a “shoo-in” in 2022 and that his loss stemmed from poor campaigning, which provoked disillusionment among members and continued frustrations after the election.
Following strict rules limiting members from speaking to media without endorsement, Mr Farrelly responded by saying he is “extremely proud of the grassroots, community-focused campaign my team and I delivered in 2022.”
In late 2024, the Pakenham branch supported a motion that made a formal complaint to the Liberal Party state headquarters and called for an investigation regarding Mr Farrelly’s appearance at a public meeting and his social media activity, which members felt misrepresented him as the chosen candidate for the seat of Pakenham in the 2026 state election.
The motion, seen by the Gazette, says Mr Farrelly’s actions were “promoting his candidacy” and defied “specific instructions” from local leadership, and that the branch was “deeply concerned” he was “damaging” party unity and protocols.
The motion refers to a public meeting called “Coffee & Conversation” that Mr Farrelly held in November 2024 alongside Eastern Victoria Liberal MP Renee Heath, where he referred to himself as the “former Liberal candidate for Pakenham.”
The use of a public Facebook account by Mr Farrelly was also mentioned in the motion. Around the same time as the meetings, he used hashtags such as #david4pakenham and draped his profile picture in Liberal Party blue.
Sources said members were agitated, as this occurred close to when Pakenham MP Emma Vulin announced her diagnosis of motor neurone disease, which is said to have made members worry that Mr Farrelly was appearing as though the party was “preying” on the diagnosis and expecting a by-election.
Correspondence between the Pakenham branch and Liberal Party headquarters earlier this year, seen by the Gazette, shows members of the state executive saying Mr Farrelly “does not seem to have stopped” his activity after the complaint and that he needs to “take down” his Facebook page.
It is claimed that the Liberal Party headquarters contacted Mr Farrelly after this exchange to curb his actions.
Sources also allege that Mr Farrelly’s run in the 2022 election “alienated” members and that a promise to raise $100,000 for the campaign was broken, with only $30,000 to $40,000 dollars raised.
This is said to have occurred while Mr Farrelly allegedly refused support from Mr Wood, former Monash MP Russell Broadbent and Berwick MP Brad Battin.
Sources say members believe Mr Farrelly took the numbers in the May 2022 federal election for granted, where Mr Wood won the overlapping La Trobe seat with an increased margin that did not materialise for Mr Farrelly in the state election.
One source said he “completely failed” the campaign and “did not listen” to peers.
As the Gazette understands, the current preselection for the seat of Pakenham is underway and between three contenders: Monty Sodhi, Radmila Dyson and David Farrelly.
As reported last week, Mr Wood has publicly backed Mr Sodhi for the Pakenham candidacy.
Nominations are reported to be open for preselection, with the closing date set for Friday 28 November.