Long serving Member for Monash Russell Broadbent has quit the Liberal Party after Sunday's devastating pre-selection vote against him.
He said he was a "Liberal at heart" but would move to the crossbench to serve out his term as the Member for Monash.
Mr Broadbent attracted just 16 votes at the Liberal Party's pre-selection convention in Warragul, which was convincingly won by Mary Aldred with 161 votes.
Mr Broadbent abruptly left the convention before its conclusion. He released a three sentence statement on Monday night.
But this morning he announced his resignation to MPs in the party room.
In a statement addressed to constituents, Mr Broadbent said he would move to the crossbench where he will continue to represent the people of Monash.

"I am a Liberal at heart and my values have not changed.

"On Sunday, there was a pre-selection where I received less than 10 per cent of the vote. This was a clear signal from members and one which I believe revokes my licence to represent the Liberal Party in the electorate of Monash.
"As I said in the party room this morning, I believe there are storm clouds ahead for this nation and I strongly encouraged the party to support the leader.
" It has been an honour to stand in the parliament as the Liberal member for Monash for the past 25 years, and I wish the Liberal party all the best," Mr Broadbent said this morning.Commenting on the pre-section outcome, Mr Broadbent said he always believed the pre-selectors get it right on behalf of the party. "I have no reason to think this is not the case in this contest."
"I congratulate the new candidate for the Liberal Party in Monash and wish her and her team well for the next election. The decision by the party that I do not continue as the Member for Monash after the next election was clear and emphatic.
"I will continue to serve the people of Monash until the next election. It has been an honour and a privilege to serve the people and the parliament for the last 25 years," he said.

Long serving member

Mr Broadbent's political career began in 1990 when he was elected the Member for Corinella, holding the seat for one term.
Mr Broadbent was first elected to the seat (formerly known as McMillan) in 1996. He lost the seat to the ALP's Christian Zahra in 1998.
At the 2004 election Mr Broadbent was returned in McMillan and has retained the seat, renamed Monash in 2019, at every election since.
The 2004 election was declared a "Liberal landslide" and Liberal victory headlines continued for the next six elections, with Mr Broadbent now the longest serving member in the electorate.
The seat, for many years regarded as a safe Liberal seat, is now held by Mr Broadbent with a 2.9 per cent margin following a 6.9 per cent swing again the party at last year's federal election.
After his 2022 win, Mr Broadbent said he never focussed on margins.
He said Monash had been marginal in the past, with him losing the 2001 election on a 0.1 per cent margin and remaining marginal for two subsequent elections after he was re-elected in 2004.
"I survived the Julia Gillard and Kevin Rudd years, they were very hard elections. But the margin is irrelevant, what's important is representing your electorate," he said.
Throughout his tenure, Mr Broadbent has always declared to represent the community's views and has controversially crossed the floor of parliament on three occasions to stand by his beliefs.
During the Howard government term in 2006, Mr Broadbent sided with Liberal backbenchers Petro Georgiou and Judi Moylan in a stand against the government's asylum seeker bill and advocated for better treatment of refugees, particularly the detention of children.
Controversially, in 2017 Mr Broadbent voted no to marriage equality despite the majority of his electorate saying yes and he again attracted national attention in 2021 when he publicly spoke out about his decision not to be vaccinated against COVID.
In March this year, Mr Broadbent took a stand against his party's position on the Voice referendum, declaring he stood firmly in the yes camp
He described the opportunity provided by the referendum as "presenting a defining moment in history for Australia".
But, six months later, he indicated his change of position after speaking with local First Nations people including elder Cheryl Drayton.
Speaking after Sunday's vote, federal Member for Wannon Dan Tehan described Mr Broadbent as a "man of integrity and incredibly strong values."
He said Mr Broadbent had "given his all to the local community."
Mr Tehan said Mr Broadbent was voted in by the people at the last election and he had made the commitment to serve out his term.