Prosecutors have withdrawn all 24 charges against balance-of-power MP Geoff Shaw.
Prosecutor Ray Elston, SC, appeared before magistrate Charlie Rozencwajg on Tuesday morning for a special mention hearing to inform him that all of the charges would be withdrawn.
Mr Shaw faced 23 charges of obtaining financial advantage by deception and one count of misconduct in public office over the alleged misuse of his parliamentary fuel card and car in 2011.
Mr Elston did not say why the charges were being withdrawn.
Mr Rozencwajg said the matter was now closed.
Mr Shaw’s solicitor, Quinn McCormack, said she welcomed the development.
The withdrawal of the charges will come as a major relief for the state government, given Premier Denis Napthine relies on Mr Shaw’s vote to govern.
Had Mr Shaw been found guilty and convicted of the charges he would not have been able to hold his seat in Parliament, which would have forced his electorate of Frankston into a byelection.
The government had feared an early byelection could have cost it power.
Mr Shaw resigned from the parliamentary Liberal Party this year to sit as an independent, citing a lack of confidence in then premier Ted Baillieu.
Mr Baillieu’s subsequent resignation handed the premiership to Dr Napthine.
Mr Shaw, 46, was alleged to have made purchases totalling $2096.56 on his parliamentary fuel card, and to have used his parliamentary vehicle, for his own personal use.
Mr Shaw last month indicated he would plead guilty to one rolled-up charge on the expectation the matter would proceed to Melbourne Magistrates Court’s diversion program, where no conviction is recorded on the proviso the offender admits wrongdoing.
But that plan was thrown into a spin when Mr Rozencwajg ruled Mr Shaw was unsuitable for the diversion program.
The original charges were then reinstated and Mr Shaw’s lawyers said he would plead not guilty.
Mr Shaw was scheduled to return before the court on December 18, until Mr Elston appeared before the court on Tuesday for what he called an “urgent” special mention.
