The Victorian Liberals should be waging war on Jacinta Allan's Labor government but have instead spent 18 months tearing each other apart in a struggle for party's soul.
First-term MP Moira Deeming and party leader John Pesutto have been scrapping it out in the Federal Court for three weeks as part of a high-stakes defamation trial.
She alleges Mr Pesutto defamed her by suggesting or implying she was a Nazi or Nazi sympathiser following a Let Women Speak rally in Melbourne in March 2023, a claim he denies.
The controversial trans-critical event, which Mrs Deeming addressed and helped organise, was attended by neo-Nazis who performed the Nazi salute on the steps of state parliament.
It sparked public outroar, leading to her suspension and later expulsion from the parliamentary party.
The unfolding trial has exposed deep rifts and a level of paranoia within the Liberal ranks, with a raft of current and former state MPs taking the stand to give evidence for and against their colleagues.
Deputy leader David Southwick, it emerged, secretly recorded a meeting a day after the rally in which Mrs Deeming was hauled over the coals.
During their 70-minute exchange, Mr Pesutto sought an assurance from Mrs Deeming that nobody she worked with had "any sympathies ... or liaisons with Nazi groups".
"People think, rightly or wrongly, that we walk in lock step with Nazi protesters and Nazis and I'm getting clobbered," he said in the recording.
Upper house party leader Georgie Crozier said she was "beyond furious" their work to put the "worst government in the state's history on the ropes" had "blown up".
Mrs Deeming denied any knowledge of organisers having Nazi links and pointed out her uncle was a Holocaust survivor.
But Mr Pesutto moved to expel her anyway, supported by a dossier of "evidence" distributed to Liberal colleagues and the media.
Mr Southwick told the court he chose to record the tense meeting because he could not trust Mrs Deeming and needed an "insurance policy".
In a second secret recording aired in court on Thursday, Mrs Deeming claimed gay and transgender people were her "biggest fans" and denied having homophobic or transphobic views.
Retired Liberal MP Matt Bach, present for the first meeting as a leadership team member, revealed former Victorian premier Ted Baillieu warned him it was common for Liberal Party meetings to be surreptitiously recorded.
Mr Baillieu and fellow Victorian Liberal premiers Jeff Kennett and Denis Napthine have all chipped in to partly fund Mr Pesutto's high-powered defence, led by barrister Matthew Collins KC.
The trial had been due to end on Friday but more time is needed for closing submissions.
A judgment is likely to be months away and could then be appealed, potentially dragging out proceedings until 2025 when a federal election is due.
Mr Pesutto promised reform when taking control of the state party in December 2022, replacing Matthew Guy after he led the coalition to a second successive election drubbing.
He narrowly defeated Berwick MP Brad Battin by one vote in the resulting leadership contest, showcasing a split between moderate and conservative members over the direction of the party.
The polls have tightened in recent times, with a RedBridge survey in August suggesting Labor and the coalition were tied 50-50 on a two-party preferred basis.
It marked the first time the coalition had been all square with Labor on TPP since a Galaxy poll in December 2017.
Ms Allan, who succeeded Daniel Andrews as leader 12 months ago, also only commands a one percentage point lead as preferred premier over Mr Pesutto.
Three weeks of the civil war playing out in open court could dent the Liberals' upward trajectory and appears to have some of Mr Pesutto's colleagues on edge.
Media speculation on his future flared this week, with anonymous Liberal MPs suggesting his leadership was untenable after four days of grilling from Mrs Deeming's equally feted barrister Sue Chrysanthou SC.
The Hawthorn MP swatted away the scuttlebutt on his way into court on Tuesday, telling the swarming media pack no Liberal colleague had raised concerns with him.
"I've got no concerns in that area," he told reporters.
But the Victorian Liberals have form in plotting leadership spills, with Michael O'Brien toppled by Mr Guy in September 2021 after an earlier failed coup by Mr Battin.
The next Victorian state election is just a tick over two years away.
Barring a Labor implosion, the Victorian Liberals must present a united front to have a chance of winning the 17 seats it needs to return to majority government and end 12 years in the political wilderness.
A viable alternative government cannot be at war with itself.
