Not even MAFS could deliver the drama of the Deeming and Pesutto trial

Kim was double-crossed by John. John can’t stand Katherine. Louise wanted Moira gone, as did Matthew. Brad and Richard were in disbelief. And everyone’s angry with David.

As for Jeff, well, he’s been on the blower to John, who isn’t besties with Michael. And Georgie, well, she was so disappointed.

Opposition Leader John Pesutto and MP Moira Deeming.Credit: Stephen Kiprillis

In case you’re confused, this isn’t the plot of an episode of Married At First Sight, but the goings-on inside the Victorian Liberal Party, whose MPs are holding on to a fading hope that voters will consider them a credible alternative to Labor in November 2026.

For nine days now, observers in courtroom 6K – and thousands online – have been given a frank insight as to what really happens behind closed doors, as part of a very public Federal Court defamation trial brought on by ousted Victorian Liberal MP Moira Deeming, who is suing the state’s party leader, John Pesutto.

While some of what has already come out seems barely relevant to the legal proceedings, we now know what Liberal MPs and hangers-on in Victoria think of each other. Text messages, emails, secret recordings – it’s all there for voters to gobble up.

For those of us lucky enough to follow politics closely, the raw ambition, disunity and the nasty squabbles aren’t really new. Nor are they unique to the Liberal Party.

In fact, it’s Labor that has traditionally schooled the Liberals when it comes to internal hatred. But the pledge of caucus solidarity remains Labor’s greatest strength when it comes to keeping disputes out of the public eye.

For Liberals, the idea of party unity – that a bunch of disparate personalities can put their differences aside and unite over a shared love of individual freedom and free enterprise – has always been a bit of a hurdle. The desire to win has usually been a better adhesive. And a pathological hatred of the other side.

But now, for the Victorian Liberal Party, the jig is up. Under oath, and in order not to perjure themselves, MPs have provided their frankest assessments of their colleagues.

We have learnt that veteran Victorian Liberal MP Kim Wells is wholly unimpressed with Pesutto and his deputy David Southwick, sensationally accusing the opposition leader of lying by telling him Deeming had organised for neo-Nazis to attend the Let Women Speak rally in March 2023.

Speaking of Southwick, evidence that he secretly recorded his colleagues and then sat on the tapes for months has understandably infuriated many within the party, and unwittingly provided the fractured party room with one thing they can almost all agree on – that it will be a steep uphill battle for him to regain the trust of his colleagues when all this is over.

Ousted Liberal Moira Deeming and barrister Sue Chrysanthou, SC, on Wednesday.Credit: Eddie Jim

Speaking of trust, under cross-examination last Friday, upper house MP Renee Heath admitted she broke party rules by sharing draft notes from a March 2023 party room meeting with Deeming, who was suspended at the time, and two other MPs, but told the court she had simply forgotten to put that titbit in her affidavit.

By the time this saga is over, around 25 per cent of the Victorian Liberal party room will have provided evidence under oath.

Even those not listed as witnesses have been drawn into the saga, with former party leader Matthew Guy exposed in a text message as offering to help expel Deeming on the night of the rally.

Then there are the staffers. While MPs demanding personnel changes in the opposition leader’s office may not be new, the trial has turned up the heat on Pesutto’s latest chief of staff, Louise Staley, after it was revealed the former MP lobbied Pesutto to dump Deeming in the hours after it was reported Deeming attended the rally.

“She needs to decide if she is a member of staff or a factional player,” one Liberal MP offered this week.

On Wednesday, Pesutto was also forced to admit that he isn’t exactly “besties” with former Victorian Liberal Party president Michael Kroger. While he’s hardly alone in that faction, Pesutto also fessed up to divulging parts of settlement discussions to former premier Jeff Kennett, and giving him the names of some of the Liberals who had prepared affidavits in support of Deeming.

The irony in all this is that Pesutto insists his action against Deeming was driven by a desire to protect the party and ensure it was viable at the 2026 state election.

Ultimately, it will be up to Justice David O’Callaghan to decide whether all this dirty laundry is relevant in his final verdict. Until then, it is almost impossible to see how the 30 Victorian Liberal MPs can sit together in parliament in a fortnight with so many fissures in their facade of unity.

Annika Smethurst is state political editor.

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