Jeff Kennett receives legal warning from Moira Deeming

Former Liberal premier Jeff Kennett has received a legal warning from ousted Liberal MP Moira Deeming’s lawyers after speaking publicly about the defamation trial she launched against Opposition Leader John Pesutto.

When contacted by The Age on Friday, Kennett said he “had a chuckle” when he received the letter, and that he would not be dissuaded from backing Pesutto or speaking out about Liberal Party politics.

John Pesutto, Moira Deeming and Jeff KennettCredit: Monique Westermann

Kennett confirmed the letter he had received appeared to argue that he had made comments that discouraged or scared witnesses in the trial.

“That’s what they’re trying to say. I don’t know who they talk about,” he said. “Of course, I’ve spoken to a number of people at the party over the last few weeks and months.”

The letter is the second to be sent by law firm Giles George on behalf of Deeming this week. On Tuesday, Pesutto was warned to stop publicly claiming he had exhausted every effort to settle with Deeming.

In that letter, Patrick George of Giles George demanded a withdrawal and apology from Pesutto for the “false and deliberately misleading” public statements. Pesutto rejected that at a press conference on Thursday.

The trial is focused on Deeming’s allegation that Pesutto defamed her as a Nazi sympathiser, which he rejects.

The court this month heard that Pesutto had shared with Kennett the names of some of those who made affidavits in support of Deeming.

In September, before the trial, Kennett told The Australian Financial Review that those people “will be dealt with in due course when preselections are called for the next election”. He said shadow ministers who supported Deeming in evidence should immediately resign.

This week, Kennett in a Herald Sun opinion piece and on radio station 3AW said Pesutto was a “decent man” who had proven himself to be akin to former prime minister John Howard. He again called on frontbenchers who gave evidence against their leader to resign from their positions.

Deeming’s lawyers could seek to bring the matter before Federal Court Justice David O’Callaghan, unless Kennett meets their demands by midday Monday.

The Age has not seen a copy of the Kennett letter, but a source who was not permitted to discuss the content publicly said it could seek an apology or a withdrawal.

Kennett said he had told Deeming’s lawyers that all his commentary was about the political implications of the trial and internal issues in the Liberal Party, and that any accusation he was using the media over the saga was hypocritical.

“I’ve consistently said that I am not prejudging the case, nor commenting on the material that has been offered during the case,” he said.

“I have no concerns at all, and if they wish me to go to court, I would be very happy to do so.”

All living former Liberal premiers, including Kennett, have supported Pesutto and donated to his defence.

The Federal Court separately heard Pesutto had filled Kennett in on mediation attempts with Deeming, in an effort to maintain the confidence of the party, in three weeks of evidence in the defamation trial.

The legal battle has divided the Liberal party room and this week sparked a push to oust Pesutto as leader next week. But momentum has fizzled and MPs conceded a spill motion might not even be brought at Tuesday’s party room meeting.

The saga stems from the Let Women Speak rally on the steps of state parliament on March 18, 2023, which Deeming helped organise. Neo-Nazis were among several groups of protesters that arrived that day.

Deeming has denounced Nazism and rejects the masked men in black who repeatedly performed the salute were there to support her cause, which she insists is not anti-trans.

Pesutto moved to expel Deeming from the Liberal party room in the days after the rally, but she was suspended instead for nine months in a last-minute compromise. She was ultimately expelled weeks later after threatening to bring in lawyers.

O’Callaghan is expected to release his judgment by early December.

Deeming declined to comment when contacted by The Age.

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