Victorian Liberal MPs will be free to cast a conscience vote in the Voice to Parliament referendum, putting the state party at odds with its federal counterpart.
Opposition Leader John Pesutto confirmed this morning that the Liberal party room had voted in favour of a "non-binding position" for MPs ahead of the referendum.
Prior to the vote, and after shadow cabinet had endorsed the position, Mr Pesutto said the state party would follow an established tradition of Liberal MPs being allowed conscience votes.
"This is a very important issue for our nation, and I certainly believe as leader of the opposition here in Victoria that it's important for the members of the opposition to have a non-binding position so they are free to approach that issue and determine it for themselves," Mr Pesutto said.
"There's a long way to go in this debate and I'm sure all of us will continue to have important discussions with our friends and colleagues and neighbours across the community to talk about such an important issue.
"I think this is a common-sense approach, it's fair, it recognises that people have different viewpoints on this, and all I can say is that, the parties we represent here today, we value the freedom of each member to determine for themselves which way they'll approach a national issue."
The Victorian Liberals' approach is in contrast to the federal opposition, which confirmed last month it would campaign for a "no" vote in the upcoming referendum.
Mr Pesutto said his vote would be influenced at least partly by the findings of a federal parliamentary committee examining the Voice proposal.
The committee is examining the legal ramifications of the proposed change to the constitution, rather than the broader issue of whether the Voice should be implemented.
"I will be making my position known but I want to obtain further information on that, and I expect that certainly after the select committee reports, I'll make my announcement shortly after that," he said.
"I do have some concerns about wording, which I hope the select committee can look through, but like I've said on other occasions, this is a debate of national importance and significance, and I certainly approach it in good faith, with an open mind."
Prior to Mr Pesutto's announcement, a number of Opposition MPs had publicly expressed their support for a non-binding vote in the referendum.
A number of state Liberal MPs — including Jess Wilson, Evan Mulholland, James Newbury and Shadow Treasurer Brad Rowswell — had previously called for a non-binding position.
Ms Wilson has indicated that she is leaning towards supporting the Voice.
Conversely, Liberal upper house MP Beverley McArthur has declared her opposition to the Voice, describing it as divisive and likening it to apartheid-era South Africa.
Another Liberal MP, Renee Heath, has also publicly opposed the Voice.
The Victorian Nationals are yet to formalise their position. The federal National Party is backing a "no" vote.
Matthew Guy says 'faceless leakers' contributed to election loss
Meanwhile, former Liberal leader Matthew Guy has lashed the "faceless leakers" within his own party who he said contributed to the devastating loss in last year's state election.
Speaking on a podcast with radio show host Neil Mitchell, Mr Guy said people within the administration of the party were intent on building their own "brand" through leaking to journalists.
"What you see are these people who offer themselves predominantly to newspapers but also to ABC — who are regular haters of the Liberal Party — who will just gossip, and that gossip is usually talking the Liberal Party down," he said.
"So people on our side who talk us down, who talk our parliamentary party down, talk the brand down, talk us down at every opportunity.
"When you've got senior people in the party undermining you, during the campaign, undermining the campaign, undermining the state director, undermining what we're trying to do. I would ring some of the journalists running these stories and they'd say 'mate, the source is very senior, how can I not?'"
Mr Guy also strongly criticised state party president Greg Mirabella, describing him as "woeful" and a "hindrance to the campaign".
He accused Mr Mirabella of wanting to be on TV and focusing too much on formulating policy, rather than bolstering the party's structure and supporting MPs.
Mr Guy also denied he had the support of Sky News during his leadership, describing the news channel's "after dark" programs as akin to the politics of One Nation and "incredibly damaging to the Liberal Party."
