Victorian opposition leader Matthew Guy has unveiled his new shadow cabinet, rewarding coup allies and omitting backers of ousted predecessor Michael O'Brien.
Mr O'Brien and several of his supporters are not part of the revamped Victorian Liberal-Nationals front bench, announced on the front steps of state parliament on Sunday.
Former treasurer Kim Wells, Mornington MP David Morris and upper house MP Gordon Rich-Phillips were omitted, while former Liberal minister Edward O'Donohue says he will quit politics altogether within months.
With rumblings of internal discontent, Mr Guy sought to shoot down suggestions the shadow cabinet hadn't been picked on merit.
"I've seen a bit of commentary. It's entirely based on merit, as you'd expect it to be. There's people in the right jobs," he told reporters.
"We've got a number of people in regional Victoria, a number of people being promoted."
Mr Guy's close factional ally and Kew MP Tim Smith has replaced Mr O'Donohue as shadow attorney-general, while Louise Staley lost the opposition treasury portfolio to the party's leader in the upper house David Davis.
She remains in the shadow cabinet as one of six women.
Gembrook MP Brad Battin, who led a failed coup against Mr O'Brien earlier this year before joining forces with Mr Guy for last week's spill, has become the opposition's police and emergency services spokesman.
In a move criticised by Mr O'Brien, Brad Roswell - who had held the shadow energy and renewables portfolio - was also dumped from shadow cabinet.
Mr Guy said it wasn't possible to fit everyone in, and the door remained open for the party's youngest member to return at some point.
The 47-year-old led the coalition to a crashing defeat at the 2018 election, which saw the party shed 10 of its 37 lower-house seats including blue-ribbon Hawthorn.
Discontent with the Labor government's tough lockdown restrictions could see him make up some ground in 2022.
Since returning to the top job, Mr Guy has established a new portfolio for "CBD Revival" and thrust newly elected deputy Liberal leader David Southwick into the role.
"This is about making Melbourne the most livable city in the world again," Mr Guy said.
"Not just the CBD, the whole city. We were proud of that. We had that tag for nearly a decade. We want it back."
