MATT WORDSWORTH, PRESENTER: The bluest of blue ribbon Liberal seats Goldstein in Victoria is having its first preselection in a decade following the retirement of the former Trade Minister Andrew Robb. It's a hard-fought contest between a former Human Rights Commissioner, a Liberal Party scion and a former aid worker. The mud is flying and the vigour of the competition has raised hopes this is a sign of the revival of the Victorian Liberals and the rise of a potential leader.

Madeleine Morris reports.

MADELEINE MORRIS: There's not many places in the world that your backyard is the beach and to be so close to the city.

Perched on the calm waters of Port Phillip Bay sits the genteel electorate of Goldstein, at its heart is the sprawling suburb of Brighton. So this is Moule Avenue, I think this is one of the most special streets of Brighton, a lot of the properties actually back right on to the sand, right on to the dog beach. So what sort of people live in Brighton?

JUDY ROMANO, PR AND GOLDSTEIN VOTER: I would say it's a really mixed bag. There's a lot of older people and then there's - there's the young ones coming through like if there's an auction in my street, you'll be surprise there's a 30-year-old bidding on a $5 million house and it's like how did that get that money?

ANDREW ROBB, LIBERAL MP: It's one of four seats that the Liberal Party's never lost. It's been a Liberal Party seat since federation and it has been a seat which has attracted people who in the large part have been in cabinet, certainly in the last few decades.

MADELEINE MORRIS: Now with the former Trade Minister retiring, Goldstein offers that rare prize in politics - a secure job and a good chance of a seat at the Cabinet table.

Unlike in NSW, in Victoria, local branch members have the biggest slice of the vote in preselections so, fuelled by a sea of tea and biscuits, fierce lobbying is under way.

JEFF KENNETT, FMR VICTORIAN PREMIER: What's interesting about this field, it's not large in number but the quality of the candidates is very high, different, and they're all reasonably young.

MADELEINE MORRIS: The most high-profile of the candidates is talk show regular Tim Wilson. Formerly of the conservative think tank the Institute for Public Affairs, Tim Wilson was appointed a Human Rights Commissioner two years ago, a role and $400,000 salary he's given up for a tilt at elected office. He can't tell us his sales pitch because Liberal Party rules ban candidates from talking to the media but Mr. Wilson's views are well known.

NICK ECONOMOU, SENIOR LECTURER, MONASH UNIVERSITY: He does hold quite firm views on a range of social issues. He's also very much a person who likes to project the idea he's a defender of free speech so on social issues he's quite progressive and considered to be a rising star inside the Liberal Party.

MADELEINE MORRIS: Mr Wilson is backed by power broker Senator Scott Ryan, a crucial numbers man amongst conservative Victorian Liberals and in something of a coup, Mr Wilson has also scored the endorsement of Malcolm Turnbull and Tony Abbott. Even his supporters admit, though, he faces one large hurdle amongst a Conservative rump of preselectors. He's a strong supporter of gay marriage and is gay himself.

ROGER COLES, CHAIR, LIBERAL GARDENVALE BRANCH: Look, I would be stupid to say it's not an issue but the thing is I say to people like that, number one, Tim's never foist that down my throat, and the second thing about it is he's not the first gay Liberal to be in parliament.

MADELEINE MORRIS: A last-minute smear pamphlet sent to all preselectors has focused on Mr Wilson's support for gay marriage and his support for the Safe Schools Coalition.

PAMPHLET (male voiceover): "Tim's homosexuality is not the problem. It's his unrelenting campaign for gay rights and waste of taxpayer's money."

MADELEINE MORRIS: But voters in Goldstein say sexuality is just not an issue for the wider voting public here.

JUDY ROMANO: What's there to be fraid of? I think, yay, Tim Wilson being gay, that's fantastic.

MADELEINE MORRIS: Meanwhile the Victorian Liberal establishment led by state party President Michael Kroger is throwing its considerable weight behind another candidate.

JEFF KENNETT: (inaudible) Downer.

ANDREW ROBB: Georgina Downer is someone that I've given a reference to and have supported.

MADELEINE MORRIS: At just 36, the former lawyer and diplomat is already a back room political veteran, that's despite the expectations of her younger self forged growing up in the shadow of her father, Alexander Downer.

REPORTER (ARCHIVAL FOOTAGE, 1997): Georgina's next step will be a law economics degree and a job with the Foreign Affairs Department.

GEORGINA DOWNER (ARCHIVAL FOOTAGE, 1997): No politics for me. Too hard!

MADELEINE MORRIS: Even though she's on the party's powerful administrative committee, with little media profile and not being a local, Georgina downer has had more ground to make up. 7:30's been told Alexander Downer has been making calls in support of his daughter, a tactic that's fallen flat with some preselectors who feel the party's heavy hitters are foisting an outsider upon them.

As a woman in a party that says it wants more front line females, you might think Georgina Downer has an advantage but in two recent Victorian Liberal preselections, highly qualified women have lost out to less experienced men. Party members, it seems, aren't getting the memo from HQ.

NICK ECONOMOU: Just put bluntly, if you hand the power to preselect into the hands of the local branch members, as is the case in Victoria, then you run the risk of the - the outlooks, the conservative outlooks of those branch members overriding the strategic planning of those people who hold positions at the administrative centre of the party.

MADELEINE MORRIS: And there's one more serious competitor pitching himself as David to the Goliaths of the Liberal establishment.

NICK ECONOMOU: Denis Dragovic is the interesting one. He's considered to be an expert on terrorism and count-terrorism, which of course is very much de rigueur in the policy debate at the moment.

SKY NEWS (ARCHIVAL FOOTAGE): He's lived in several war zones and authored a book on religion and conflict.

MADELEINE MORRIS: Dr Denis Dragovic's brand of social conservatism appeals to many in the seat and his international expertise combined with being a long standing local has won him lot of support.

VOX POP: At this stage, I'm putting Dennis ahead.

VOX POP II: Having a local candidate is very important.

MADELEINE MORRIS: On the eve of the vote, insiders say the race is now largely between Tim Wilson and Dennis Dragovic, though both could potentially be affected by had last-minute smear pamphlet. Whoever wins for the 400 or so preselectors for this blue-ribbon Liberal seat, there are very high expectations.

JEFF KENNETT: I think they'll all be wanting to make sure that this new person they anoint will be a senior minister in a future government and even maybe more senior than a senior minister. So we're looking for leadership from this preselection.

MATT WORDSWORTH: Madeleine Morris reporting.