UNITED FRONT: Liberal MP for Western Victoria, Simon Ramsay, right, with Premier Ted Baillieu at an announcement in Ballarat last week.
LIBERAL MP for Western Victoria Simon Ramsay has declared the state Coalition government "all together" after the shock resignation of MP Geoff Shaw.
The government is in crisis today after Mr Shaw sensationally quit the Liberal Party and joined the crossbenches.
The move leaves the government clinging to its one seat majority in the Victorian lower house.
Mr Ramsay said despite the drama the government was "getting on with governing".
"The government is full steam ahead in governing, as it was elected to do," he said.
However, Labor MP for Ballarat West Sharon Knight said the government was not governing for Victoria.
"It's a complete shambles from the government and I use the term government loosely," she said
Geoff Robinson, politics lecturer at Deakin University in Geelong, said the government's future hinged on how Mr Shaw chooses to vote as an independent.
There was also the possibility of him resigning and causing a by-election.
"If that occurs then the likelihood is that after some months there would be a new general election, which the Baillieu government would struggle to win," he said.
As it stands, Mr Shaw's resignation leaves the Coalition with 44 seats in the lower house and the ALP with 43. Those numbers are tied when removing the Speaker, who traditionally only has a casting vote.
Mr Shaw has not yet fronted the media to explain his reasons for quitting or how he plans to vote.
Mr Robinson said keeping Shaw voting with the government would be a challenge.
"I don't think that Ted Baillieu would be so confident about Geoff Shaw, he's definitely a loose cannon," he said.
Mr Robinson added that after the past week of revelations the future of Premier Ted Baillieu's leadership would be under question.
Earlier in the week, secret tapes emerged casting doubt over the government's role in former Victoria Police Commissioner Simon Overland's resignation.
"It's a huge blow to a government which is already in some difficulty. This will increase internal divisions and place more pressure on Ted Baillieu."
Mr Ramsay said he was not concerned about the future of the government or Ted Baillieu's leadership and that the distractions of the past week would pass.
"We have good stories to tell, we'll continues today to do that good work," he said.
