Victorian MP booted from parliamentary Liberal party after praying for abortion to be banned

Bernie Finn will be forced to sit on crossbench and is unlikely to be preselected ahead of November election

• Follow our Australia news live blog for the latest updates
• Download the free Guardian app; get our morning email briefing

Victorian rightwing MP Bernie Finn has been expelled from the state's parliamentary Liberal team for posting on Facebook that abortion should be banned, even for survivors of rape.

In a decision that resulted in Finn describing the party he joined four decades ago as dead", Liberal MPs voted to expel him during a party room meeting on Tuesday morning.

Sign up to receive an email with the top stories from Guardian Australia every morning