John Pesutto: ‘This was my first chance as leader to prove my beliefs about the Liberal Party being inclusive’

A document prepared by Opposition Leader John Pesutto’s staff featured detailed suggestions on how the Liberal leadership could sway votes in favour of booting Moira Deeming from the party.

John Pesutto has denied threatening a dissolution of the Victorian Coalition in order to get enough votes to boot ousted MP Moira Deeming from the Liberal Party.

A document detailing a tally of suspected votes of the Liberal Party room on a motion to expel Mrs Deeming was shown to the Federal Court on Monday, where the Opposition Leader was grilled for a fourth day as he’s sued for defamation by the exiled MP.

Mr Pesutto’s evidence ended on Monday afternoon with senior Liberals including ex-MP Dr Matthew Bach, David Southwick MP and Georgie Crozier MP to be called from Tuesday.

A colour-coded tally document, compiled days after Mrs Deeming helped organise a rally gatecrashed by saluting neo-Nazis in March 2023, detailed suggestions on how the Liberal leadership could sway more votes in the ‘yes’ camp to remove her from the party.

Opposition Leader John Pesutto has been grilled in court for a fourth day. Picture: Luis Enrique Ascui

In the document before the court, former Opposition Leader Michael O’Brien was marked as ‘unsure’ as to his views on the motion to expel Mrs Deeming, and featured a pitch of how to get him to vote in favour of ousting her.

“Pitch – coalition threat might get him over the line,” the document read.

“Isn’t it the case you intended to threaten Mr O’Brien with a dissolution of the Liberal-National Party Coalition in order to convince him to vote your way?” barrister Sue Chrysanthou SC asked Mr Pesutto in the witness box.

“Your Honour, that’s absurd,” Mr Pesutto replied.

At the time the table tallying possible votes was compiled by Mr Pesutto’s staff, it showed the leadership had just 10 ‘yes’ votes to expel Mrs Deeming.

It needed 16 votes for the motion to pass.

Ousted Liberal Moira Deeming is suing John Pesutto for defamation. Picture: Luis Enrique Ascui

Mr Pesutto said the document may have reflect his staff’s view that Mr O’Brien might have been concerned if Mrs Deeming remained in the Liberal Party is could “precipitate a dissolution of the Coalition agreement”.

“There was a concern in some quarters that the Coalition agreement might be affected by the outcome of the decision, that’s all,” Mr Pesutto said.

“It proved not to be the case but there were some concerns.”

Ms Chrysanthou said Mr Pesutto wasn’t being truthful, and that it was suggested by his staff a threat to the Coalition could “get him over the line”.

“That’s completely wrong and frankly rather absurd that’s what we put to Mr O’Brien, who is a former leader and former treasurer,” Mr Pesutto said.

Newly elected MP Trung Luu was also marked as ‘unsure’ with a suggested pitch to him being, “#1 candidate in the West”.

Ms Chrysanthou asked Mr Pesutto if the intention was to promise Mr Luu “the first spot on the Liberal Western ticket” if he voted to boot Mrs Deeming from the party.

“He wasn’t promised that no … I didn’t ever instruct anyone to put that to him, or put that to him myself in any way shape or form,” he said.

Mr Pesutto was asked if it would have been “disastrous for your leadership” if the motion for Mrs Deeming’s expulsion that he moved went against him.

He replied it would have been “disastrous for the party”.

In his affidavit, which was made public on Monday, Mr Pesutto described his decision to move the motion to expel Mrs Deeming as “one of the hardest I have had to make in public life”.

“I considered this to be the first major test of my leadership … this was my first chance as leader to prove my beliefs about the Liberal Party being inclusive. If I failed to act the story would become that I failed to act.”

He claimed he was “surprised” when Mrs Deeming was selected as a Liberal Party candidate in 2022 and was “worried she would hurt my candidacy in the electoral district of Hawthorn … because of what I perceived as her notoriety”.

In court documents, he said after several months as leader of the party that Mrs Deeming’s “views on social and political issues (most notably, abortion and transgender issues) were notorious, controversial and regarded as hateful by some, and she had a mixed reputation in the Parliament”.

“I considered Mrs Deeming’s presence in the Party was challenging and an overall negative in terms of winning votes”.

Mrs Deeming was suspended from the Liberal Party in a compromise in March 2023, and expelled six weeks later upon a fresh motion by five MPs who were lobbied by Mr Pesutto in May.

The court heard her expulsion came amid whispers she foreshadowed issuing legal proceedings over the saga.

She claims Mr Pesutto defamed her by painting her as a neo-Nazi sympathiser after white supremacists crashed the Let Women Speak rally that she helped organise on the steps of Parliament on March 18, 2023.

Mr Pesutto denies he defamed Mrs Deeming.

The trial, before Justice David O’Callaghan, is now expected to run over its anticipated three weeks.

Further dates are set to be locked in for closing submissions in late October.

Originally published as John Pesutto: ‘This was my first chance as leader to prove my beliefs about the Liberal Party being inclusive’