Liberal MP Moira Deeming faces expulsion after neo-Nazi rally

A controversial MP who attended a rally that was crashed by neo-Nazis is set to be expelled from the Liberal party room.

Opposition Leader John Pesutto will move to expel Moira Deeming from the Liberal party room.

Mr Pesutto met with Ms Deeming on Sunday, a day after she attended a rally on the steps of parliament that was crashed by neo-Nazis.

Ms Pesutto said Ms Deeming’s attendance at the rally made her position with the party “untenable”.

It comes as Ms Deeming distanced herself from the neo-Nazi movement.

Moira Deeming’s position with the party is untenable, John Pesutto says. Picture: Sarah Matray

“I am so distressed that nobody is listening to or addressing the concerns of women,” she told the Herald Sun.

“Nobody endorsed those Nazis.

“We all condemned them. But nobody listened to what the women actually said.”

A move to expel Ms Deeming can’t be put to the party room before Friday, because party rules require five days notice be given.

It will be the first test of leadership for Mr Pesutto, who beat senior opposition MP Brad Battin by a single vote to snare the top job in December.

If the move to expel Ms Deeming is rejected, it would be a huge blow to Mr Pesutto’s authority.

Ms Deeming says of Saturday’s rally: ‘Nobody endorsed those Nazis’.

Several Liberal sources said the motion would likely pass, but only narrowly.

But while that would see Ms Deeming expelled from the parliamentary wing of the party, it is believed she would survive any move to expel her from the broader Liberal Party.

“Yesterday afternoon Victorians witnessed an abomination on the steps of the Victorian Parliament when neo-Nazi protesters engaged in an affront to the values we should all hold dear as Victorians,’ Mr Pesutto said.

“The violence, prejudice and hate that these protesters conveyed by their odious actions will never be acceptable in our State. I condemn them and commit to opposing such hate wherever it may exist.

“This afternoon I met with Moira Deeming MP who attended yesterday’s rally. I discussed her involvement in organising, promoting and participating in a rally with speakers and other organisers who themselves have been publicly associated with far right-wing extremist groups including neo-Nazi activists.

“At our meeting I informed Ms Deeming that I will move a motion at the next party room meeting to expel her as a member of the parliamentary Liberal Party as her position is untenable.

“This is not an issue about free speech but a member of the parliamentary party associating with people whose views are abhorrent to my values, the values of the Liberal Party and the wider community.”

Mr Pesutto said the Liberal Party had to be better at representing all Victorians.

“No matter what our background we all share the abiding bond of an essential humanity,” he said.

“Equality of opportunity, the benefits to each and all of an enterprising culture, the security that comes from the rule of law, the strength which stems from families and communities that can live together in search of happiness while sharing in Victoria’s prosperity, must extend to all people who reside in our land”.

In May former opposition leader Matthew Guy successfully moved to expel Bernie Finn, who Ms Deeming replaced, from the party room.

Originally published as Liberal MP Moira Deeming faces expulsion after neo-Nazi rally