Opposition Leader John Pesutto may face court after failing to apologise to Deeming

Opposition Leader John Pesutto faces the prospect of two seperate defamation actions after failing to meet a deadline to publicly apologise to expelled Liberal Moira Deeming.

Opposition Leader John Pesutto may be forced to defend a potentially damning defamation action after failing to meet a deadline to publicly apologise to expelled Liberal Moira Deeming.

Mr Pesutto had until Thursday to issue the apology, and having failed to do so now faces the prospect of two seperate defamation actions.

Senior lawyers say the actions could take up to two years to move their way through the courts, and could force the leader and his staff to disclose correspondence including text messages and emails.

It could also force Mr Pesutto and key Liberals to publicly testify about the initial decision to initiate expulsion proceedings against Mrs Deeming.

Leader of the Opposition John Pesutto failed to meet a deadline to publicly apologise to expelled Liberal Moira Deeming. Picture: David Crosling

Mr Pesutto moved to expel Mrs Deeming in March after she attended a Let Women Speak rally on the steps of Parliament House.

He later accused her of having links to Nazi sympathisers.

She was slapped with a nine-month suspension from the parliamentary wing of the party but later expelled when she issued an initial defamation concerns notice against Mr Pesutto.

“The case is with my lawyers who have already issued two concerns notices to John Pesutto,” Mrs Deeming said on Thursday.

“These notices are a formal prerequisite to proceedings.

“The notices are intended to give Mr Pesutto 28 days to make an offer of amends in respect of the defamatory statements and imputations he published about me.

“Mr Pesutto has not at this stage withdrawn them or apologised to me. He has not at any time exonerated me as he promised to do in exchange for my agreement to the original nine-month suspension.”

Moira Deeming was expelled when she issued an initial defamation concerns notice against Mr Pesutto. Photograph by Arsineh Houspian.

Mrs Deeming said that in preparation for proceedings, her lawyers had been gathering “a substantial amount of evidence from various witnesses”.

“They have asked Mr Pesutto and others who are likely to be subpoenaed to retain and not destroy certain documents and messages,” she said.

“My lawyers are also in the process of serving a third notice to Mr Pesutto for more defamatory statements he has published about me.

“My family and I remain deeply upset and distressed by Mr Pesutto’s conduct and the disgraceful campaign he ran to expel me from the Parliamentary Liberal Party.”

Mrs Deeming called for Mr Pesutto to withdraw allegations of her Nazi links without reservation and “sincerely apologise” for “harm, hurt, and distress” caused to Mrs Deeming and her family.

If her conditions aren’t met it is anticipated two defamation proceedings could be lodged as early as next week.

Sources close to the Opposition Leader said he was confident the matters would not get to court.