Party mates give Sam Groth a serve for remaining as Liberal deputy despite quitting politics

Former tennis touring pro Sam Groth is remaining as the deputy leader of the Liberal Party despite announcing he won’t contest the next election as a candidate, angering his colleagues.

The Victorian Opposition now has a lame duck deputy going into the November election as their Coalition counterparts in NSW reshuffle more than a year out from their next State election.

“I suspect at some point they’ll probably be a push for a change,” a State shadow minister told The Nightly.

“A person who’s not going to be deputy after the election is probably not a good look in the electorate, coming up to the election, for someone to be a deputy who is going to be stepping down himself.”

Mr Groth, a former world No. 53 tennis player, blamed the Liberal Party for his decision to quit politics, just a year after quitting the Opposition frontbench to undermine another former Liberal leader, John Pesutto.

“Given he blew out John Pesutto’s brains to run for deputy leader, I don’t think he’s got credibility on the subject. It’s hypocritical to me,” former Victorian Liberal party deputy director Tony Barry told The Nightly.

His reluctance to move to the backbench immediately is also unusual.

“Mate, the fact that he even thinks that’s plausible goes to the point that he just didn’t get politics,” Mr Barry added.

Mr Groth, 38, announced on Monday he would be quitting politics at the next election due in November, after just one term in Parliament.

In November, he also reached a legal settlement after suing News Corp’s Herald Sun newspaper for defamation over a front page story that made allegations about how he had met his wife Brittany.

“Sam copped a lot more issues because of what happened with his situation in the media and the lawsuit that ensued from that,” State Liberal MP and shadow assistant minister Chris Crewther told The Nightly.

“It’s a difficult game, politics, both within the party and beyond the party. It’s not an easy thing. You’re always in the public eye. Every word you say can be used or not used against you.”

While deputy leaders traditionally choose a portfolio such as treasury, Mr Groth was the Opposition’s spokesman for sport and tourism.

He also blamed the party for his decision not to re-contest his Mornington Peninsula seat of Nepean, suggesting rumours had been spread about him.

“The public pressure placed on my family in recent months has been significant and realising that some of it came from within my own party has been difficult to ignore. Coming to that realisation has forced some very personal reflection,” he said in a statement on Monday.

“I entered public life to serve my community, to represent the Mornington Peninsula, and to stand up for what I believe is in the best interests of Victorians. I have always tried to approach this job with honesty, hard work and a clear focus on the people who put their trust in me.

“But when you find yourself having to fight against your own team, it becomes impossible to put those interests first. That is not the standard I came into public life to accept, and it is not the kind of politics Victorians deserve.”

The Liberal Party in Victoria has now had four leaders since the last election in November 2022, cycling through Matthew Guy, John Pesutto, Brad Battin and now Jess Wilson. The Coalition has been out of power since 2014.

“I don’t think anyone can deny there has been issues over several years,” Mr Crewther said.

“We need to stick together, much like a footy team would need to do in the last quarter when they’re a little bit behind.”

Ms Wilson said Mr Groth, a deputy under two Liberal leaders, had put his family first.

“Sam has made a decision today that is in the best interest of his family. I respect that. I know the team respects that,” she said on Monday, adding she was “absolutely not” running a dirty party.

Premier State reshuffle

Meanwhile in NSW, a father and daughter are now members of the NSW Coalition’s frontbench following Opposition Leader Kellie Sloane’s reshuffle a year out from the next election.

Damien Tudehope has been moved from treasury to the attorney-general portfolio.

His daughter Monica Tudehope has joined the shadow ministry with the finance and western Sydney portfolios, 15 months after replacing former premier Dominic Perrottet as the Liberal member for Epping in Sydney’s north.

They are the first parent and offspring on a State frontbench since 2010 when the late former Tasmanian Liberal MP Michael Hodgman served under his son, Will Hodgman, as Opposition leader.

Former Liberal leader Mark Speakman has rejoined the frontbench as shadow education minister, five weeks after quitting the leadership.

Scott Farlow has taken on the treasury portfolio and like Treasurer Daniel Mookhey, is also in the upper house.

Anthony Roberts, previously an electorate officer for former prime minister John Howard, has rejoined the Opposition frontbench as the shadow minister for police and counter-terrorism.

He has replaced former Nationals leader and deputy premier Paul Toole, who has been demoted to regional transport and roads.

Fellow Nationals MP Tanya Thompson has joined the frontbench with the emergency services and disaster recovery weeks after a bushfire burnt through her Myall Lakes electorate on the State’s mid-north coast, scorching bushland on either side of the Pacific Highway near Bulahdelah.

Gurmesh Singh, who took over as Nationals leader in November as the first Sikh to lead a major party in Australia, has added small business to his portfolios but relinquished emergency services.

Jacqui Munro has joined the frontbench with the environment, science, technology and heritage portfolios, almost three years after using her maiden speech to celebrate being the “New South Wales Liberal Party’s first openly LGBTQI+ woman in Parliament”.

With Labor Premier Chris Minns well ahead in opinion polls, Ms Sloane said the Coalition would be focused on tacking poor housing affordability after a term in Opposition.

“Our team will be developing practical policies that support families, ease the cost of doing business, makes housing more affordable, ensures reliable frontline services and empowers local communities,” she said.

“The Minns Labor Government doesn’t have a plan for our state, and as a result NSW is stalling, with families and households paying the price, businesses struggling and investment fleeing the state.”