It was the first act of the new upper house and it was a quick reminder to the Labor government that the Legislative Council would not be a rubber stamp.
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The new Labor government lost the first vote in the upper house, after its candidate for president of the Legislative Council, Gayle Tierney, was defeated 21 votes to 17.
The five Greens MPs and the Sex Party's Fiona Patten voted for the Coalition's candidate, Bruce Atkinson.
Mr Atkinson was president in the last Parliament and is well respected, with a reputation for independence and fairness.
Ms Tierney was supported by her colleagues (one of whom was absent) as well as the two Shooters and Fishers MPs, the Democratic Labour Party's Rachel Carling-Jenkins, and Vote 1 Local Jobs' James Purcell.
Mr Atkinson said he was humbled by his election and said he understood how important the role was in the upper house, where no party held a majority.
"I can assure the house that I will continue to act with the fairness that I believe that I exhibited in the last Parliament," Mr Atkinson said.
Labor quickly accused the Greens of throwing a tantrum because a request for extra staff was rejected. The Greens denied any such request was made.
Other crossbenchers have raised extra resources for their offices with the new government with Ms Patten saying it would be in the interest of the government if more resources were provided so crossbenchers could get a better understanding of complex legislation.
Labor's upper house leader Gavin Jennings paid tribute to Mr Atkinson's track record as president.
Greens leader Greg Barber said the new parliament had a big job to do to scrutinise the government.
"For that it needs a president who is independent of the government," Mr Barber said.
Ms Tierney was elected deputy president unopposed.
In the lower house, Labor's Telmo Languiller was elected to Speaker unopposed.
Mr Languiller originally migrated from Uruguay in the 1970s to escape the country's brutal dictatorship. He was first elected to parliament as Sunshine MP in 1999 and served as a parliamentary secretary in the Bracks and Brumby governments.
He spoke in Spanish and English as he thanked the house for electing him to the role.
"I accept this nomination as a celebration of multiculturalism, bipartisanship and democracy," he said.
Premier Daniel Andrews spoke about Mr Languiller's role in the uprising in Uruguay as a teenager, including being shot, before seeking political asylum in Australia.
"I can't think of anyone to whom I would rather trust the defence of this great institution," he said
