John Pesutto urged to stand down after blocking Moira Deeming’s return

John Pesutto has been urged to resign by a delegation of MPs as support for the Liberal leader crumbles in the aftermath of a damaging split vote over the return of ousted MP Moira Deeming.

John Pesutto has been urged to resign by a delegation of MPs as support for the Liberal leader crumbles in the aftermath of a damaging split vote regarding the re-admittance of ousted MP Moira Deeming.

The Herald Sun has confirmed that Mr Pesutto’s support group has fractured just hours after he cast the decisive vote that resulted in Ms Deeming’s return being rejected.

Shadow finance minister Jess Wilson and shadow treasurer Brad Rowswell met with Mr Pesutto after the special meeting to request that he step down.

One supporter of Mr Pesutto told the Herald Sun that his leadership was now in crisis and “an arrangement” had to be brokered.

The Herald Sun understands the left and the right of the party are now working together to piece together a new leadership team.

John Pesutto is being urged to resign. Picture: Wayne Taylor

Brad Battin is being touted as the most likely replacement, with a coalition of moderate and conservatives working to push him forward.

Ms Wilson is also being propped up as a potential leader.

It was unclear if an arrangement would be struck before Christmas.

Labor MPs have also told the Herald Sun that Ms Wilson has been on Premier Jacinta Allan’s radar as a potential threat if she were to become leader.

“Not only is she capable, but it also removes the ability to play the gender card,” a Labor MP said.

One senior Liberal figure said he wouldn’t be surprised if Mr Pesutto “white knuckled it” and refused to stand down.

Another Liberal MP called for the leadership to stay the same, saying the general public had not paid attention during the defamation case and that having a fourth leadership change in 10 years would mean an election loss in 2026.

It is understood that some rusted on supporters of Mr Pesutto have been left in the dark over discussions about a new regime.

Deeming savages Pesutto after return blocked

Exiled MP Moira Deeming has said she is “deeply disappointed” by a vote to keep her from returning to the Victorian Liberal party room and taken a fresh swipe at Opposition Leader John Pesutto.

Speaking after a vote calling for her readmission ended in draw, Ms Deeming said the Victorian Coalition’s chances would “vastly improve” if it was led by someone who was “man enough to apologise and accept me back into the partyroom”.

“As someone who was duly elected to serve in the Liberal parliamentary partyroom, I am deeply disappointed by the decision by some Liberals today to continue to keep me out, despite a Federal Court judge ruling that the basis for my expulsion was a lie sold to them by the Opposition Leader,” Mrs Deeming said in a statement obtained by the Herald Sun.

“As Justice O’Callaghan made crystal clear, there was never any factual basis for my exclusion and I believe that the party’s chances at coming elections — state and federal — would be vastly improved if the leader was man enough to apologise and accept me back into the party room from which I should never have been excluded.”

Opposition Leader John Pesutto speaking after the vote on Friday. Picture: Wayne Taylor

Moira Deeming during her successful defamation case against Mr Pesutto. Picture: David Crosling

Mrs Deeming said Mr Pesutto’s “inability to admit his mistakes speaks volumes about his character and fitness for our state’s highest office”.

She questioned whether he should have been allowed to cast the deciding vote due to him having a “significant personal conflict of interest in the outcome today”.

“Today, he not only voted against my readmission but also, when the outcome was 14-14, he used his casting vote to prevent my readmission thereby effectively voting twice,” she said.

“This is hardly surprising conduct having regard to his conduct over the last 18 months, much of which was criticised in the judgment.”

Mrs Deeming thanked the MPs who supported her and said she would continue to advocate for Liberal values.

“As disappointed as I am today, I am grateful to those many Liberal MPs who voted today not just to rectify the injustice done to me by John Pesutto, but to honour all the rank and file Liberals who have supported my return to the partyroom,” she said

Former PM slams vote ‘shameful result

A push to return Mrs Deeming back into the Liberal parliamentary party has failed in a split vote, which has been slammed as a “shameful result” by former prime minister Tony Abbott.

A new war of words has also broken out over claims Opposition Leader John Pesutto was forced to cast the deciding ballot.

Liberal MPs on Friday morning called a special meeting to vote on whether Mrs Deeming — who was expelled from the party in May last year — should be returned.

But the vote failed to secure a majority, with an even split bringing the vote to 14-14.

Numerous Liberal MPs have told the Herald Sun Mr Pesutto then used his casting vote to oppose the motion.

Speaking after the vote, Mr Pesutto said the result came after a “long and very civil discussion between members”.

He claimed the vote “concludes the matter” of Mrs Deeming’s parliamentary membership.

Mr Pesutto has denied he used his casting vote. Picture: Wayne Taylor

Mr Pesutto argued he did not vote twice because the motion required an absolute majority to succeed.

“Well, the issue of the casting vote, in the end, turned out to be unnecessary, because the advice to the room looked at an absolute majority,” he said.

But several MPs vehemently denied that he did not cast the final vote, accusing him of

“outright lying”.

“He absolutely used his casting vote,” one said.

The vote comes a week after Mr Pesutto lost a defamation battle against Mrs Deeming who successfully sued him for implying she held Nazi sympathies.

Mr Pesutto made the defamatory remarks after Mrs Deeming attended a now-notorious Let Women Speak rally in March 2023 which was gatecrashed by dozens of neo-Nazis.

She was subsequently expelled from the party.

Former Liberal prime minister Tony Abbott said it was a “shameful result” from the Victorian Liberal Party room.

“How can someone elected as a Liberal be expelled on the basis of a lie and not be readmitted once the truth is there for all to see?,” he said.

“Especially right before Christmas, the season of goodwill, this is a truly contemptible failure to act with honour and decency.”

Bill Tilley, one of five signatories who brought on the meeting, on Thursday said the result was “disappointing”.

Asked whether he believed there was still a pathway for Mrs Deeming to rejoin the parliamentary ranks, he said: “I’m an eternal optimist. Let’s see what happens over Christmas.”

Mr Tilley said there was no discussion about leadership during the meeting.

Senior frontbencher Richard Riordan, who pushed for the partyroom meeting, said he was “flabbergasted”.

“We’re in a worse position than we were to start with,” he said.

“It’s an interesting outcome.”

Moira Deeming won’t be allowed to return to the Liberal Party. Picture: David Crosling

John Pesutto arrives at the key meeting. Picture: Wayne Taylor

Veteran MP Kim Wells said it was an “extraordinary outcome”.

Renee Heath MP, a close ally of Mrs Deeming, said she needed time to process the verdict.

Chris Crewther, one of five MPs to put the motion forward and whose name was put forward as a potential challenger to Mr Pesutto’s leadership months ago, said it was a “lost opportunity to do the right thing”.

“I think the wrong decision was made today,” he said.

Bev McArthur, an outspoken critic of Mr Pesutto and supporter of Mrs Deeming, said it was “disappointing”.

“We failed because the leader cast his vote against bringing Moira back,” she said.

Ms McArthur donned a scarf with the words ‘woman, adult, human, female’.

Entering the meeting ahead of the vote, David Hodgett said he felt that while there was “probably a pathway for Moira” to rejoin the party room but this was not “the right way”.

“There’s still a number of legitimate questions to be answered, some concerns raised by colleagues,” he said.

“I don’t think they’ve gone about it the right way.

“They’ve probably done Moira a disservice.”

Upper house MP Ann-Marie Hermans said “people are hurting”.

“I personally don’t think that we have resolved it,” she said.

“I think it means that internally we’ll have a lot more work to do.

“It’s been a very difficult day.”

MP’s eleventh-hour bid to rally support

Senior Liberal and avid supporter of Mrs Deeming, Bev McArthur, sent an urgent email to all 30 colleagues on Thursday night, warning them not to attach a “new and unjustified slur to Moira”.

She pointed out that the banished Liberal MP had voted with the Greens 45 times, while the Coalition had voted with the Greens 64 times.

And that Mrs Deeming had also voted with Labor 25 times fewer than the Coalition.

“In short, we voted with the Greens and with Labor far more often than Moira did!” Ms McArthur wrote.

“The government have been defeated in 29 divisions since May 2023,” she wrote.

“In these, Moira voted against us only once – and in that division we had voted with the Greens!”

Victorian Liberal MP Bev McArthur. Picture: Ian Currie

As MPs made their way into parliament on Friday, one Liberal, who was confident the motion would get up, said it was “absolutely the right move”.

“I’m hopeful that my colleagues will act with integrity,” she said.

Friday’s hotly anticipated meeting was sparked after five disgruntled MPs signed a letter to formally prompt the vote.

Under Liberal Party rules, five votes are needed to call a special party room meeting.

It was initially viewed as a major test of Mr Pesutto’s leadership, however even MPs agitating against the leader said the sole purpose of the meeting was to decide on whether Mrs Deeming should be made a Liberal MP again.

They said there were no plans to attempt to launch a leadership challenge against Mr Pesutto, however some colleagues have warned that could change.

Mrs Deeming needed 16 votes – more than half of the party room – to be let back into the partyroom, even with two MPs (Cindy McLeish and Nick McGowan) on holidays.

It’s understood she has the support of 12 colleagues locked in. On Thursday afternoon, the vote of four other MPs was still up in the air.

Mr Pesutto has publicly said he doesn’t want Mrs Deeming back in his party.

Ahead of the vote, colleagues had said Mr Pesutto’s leadership would have faced its ultimate test if the vote succeeded, while others said he would be somewhat vindicated by a move to block her return.

New blow for Pesutto in final legal costs

Mr Pesutto has promised to never repeat the slanderous Nazi references he made against Mrs Deeming, as the court revised the amount of damages he has to pay her.

In orders made by the Federal Court on Thursday, the opposition leader has been ordered to pay Mrs Deeming $315,632.88.

It was also revealed he has made an undertaking to the court “not to repeat or republish” the defamatory imputations that landed him in trouble.

Justice O’Callaghan found Mrs Deeming established that Mr Pesutto’s words had ‘caused, or is likely to cause, serious harm to her reputation’. Picture: David Crosling

It comes a week after Justice David O’Callaghan ruled Mr Pesutto had defamed the exiled MP in implying she associates with neo-Nazis and was unfit to remain in the Liberal Party.

He made the remarks in a media release and during a series of media interviews as he moved to have her expelled after she attended the Let Women Speak rally which was gatecrashed by white supremacists on March 18 last year.

Justice O’Callaghan found Mrs Deeming, who launched defamation proceedings in December last year, established that Mr Pesutto’s words had “caused, or is likely to cause, serious harm to her reputation”.

He also dismissed Mr Pesutto’s defences of public interest, honest opinion, common law qualified privilege and contextual truth.

Justice O’Callaghan put the damages for non-economic loss to Mrs Deeming at $300,000 when making his ruling last week.

In the judge’s further orders on Thursday, the revised total figure was released, along with orders Mr Pesutto pay Mrs Deeming’s legal costs on an ordinary basis up to 11am on February 12 this year, and after that on an indemnity basis.

He asked Mrs Deeming’s legal counsel, led by the nation’s top defamation barrister, Sue Chrysanthou, SC, to file a summary of its legal costs by January 27.

Lawyers for Mr Pesutto will then have until February 14 to respond to the costs being sought.

The Herald Sun last week revealed once the legal costs of Deeming and Pesutto were factored in, the bill for the Liberal leader could top $2m.

Mr Pesutto has refused to stand down despite calls for his resignation following Mrs Deeming’s defamation win against him.