‘Paedophile apologists’: Exiled MP Moira Deeming takes the stand in defamation trial
Exiled MP Moira Deeming is suing for defamation after attending the Let Women Speak rally that was gatecrashed by neo-Nazis.
Exiled Liberal MP Moira Deeming has taken the stand in her defamation case, revealing she was not prepared to lie to parents about what she regarded as “pro-paedophilia garbage in our schools.”
A tense cross-examination unfolded in the Federal Court on Tuesday afternoon as Liberal leader John Pesutto’s barrister grilled the former school teacher on her views regarding the Safe Schools program.
She is suing Mr Pesutto for defamation after she was exiled from the Liberal Party after attending a women’s rally in Melbourne that Nazis gatecrashed.
“Is this right, that your principal concern with the (original) Safe School program is that it provides information about gender diversity, and transgender issues to students in schools,’’ Dr Collins asked.
“No,’’ she replied.
Ms Deeming taught English, Literature, Legal Studies, Philosophy, Science and Psychology as a high school teacher for over a decade.
The Safe Schools program’s current stated aims include helping schools foster a safe environment that is supportive and inclusive of LGBTIQA+ students.
In October 2016 the federal government said that it would not renew its funding for the program. In December 2016, the Education Department took control of the program in Victoria.
Exiled MP: Safe schools program promoted ”anal sex”
Ms Deeming said she had three main concerns about the original program that rested on “the absolutely justifiable empathy and concern of society or the mistreatment of gay people throughout history.”
“But in practice, it does three things. It removes child safeguarding standards in schools,’’ she said.
“It promotes high-risk sexual activities whilst downplaying the consequences.
“So, for example, please excuse me if this is graphic. It promotes anal sex ... without covering any of the risks that are permanent, long term, and they would have a right to know.
“It usurps parental rights. If the student had perhaps decided to live as another gender at school, I was to lie to parents about that without there having been an actual diagnosis by a professional, without the parents having their rights removed from them in a court of law, without any official paperwork.
“I was supposed to lie to parents about this. I think these programs are outrageous, and that has nothing to do with bigotry or hate or extremism,’’ she said.
Mr Pesutto’s barrister then asked Mrs Deeming, if she agreed she had described the program as “sleazy, unnecessary drivel.”
“Parts of it,’’ she said. “Absolutely. “
“And you’ve also publicly described the authors of the Safe School Program as, quote, literal, pedophilia apologists, haven’t you?,’’ Dr Collins said.
“That’s correct,’’ she replied.
“You said that the authors of the safe school program were, quote, putting pedophilic garbage in our school curriculums. You said that?”
“Yep,’’ she replied.
“Not a Nazi’: Secret exiled MP tapes emerge
A secret recording played in the Federal Court has revealed an exasperated Victorian MP Moira Deeming declared, “I’m not a Nazi,” in a meeting with the Liberal leadership after attending the Let Women Speak rally that was gatecrashed by neo-Nazis on the steps of the Victorian parliament.
The furore erupted after Ms Deeming spoke at the Let Women Speak rally in Melbourne, which she maintains was organised to help raise awareness about the harmful impact of allowing biological males who say they’re women to self-identify into female-only spaces, services and sports.
Critics claimed the rallies were anti-trans. In the wake of the fallout from the rallies, Ms Deeming, who some suggest could be a future Liberal leader, was exiled from the party.
Secret recording: ‘Oh my gosh, there are Nazis’
Ms Deeming alleges she was defamed in media releases, press conferences and interviews Mr Pesutto gave in the aftermath and a 15-page dossier Mr Pesutto’s office circulated to MPs and the media in seeking support for the expulsion of Ms Deeming after Nazi sympathisers gatecrashed the protest.
She was subsequently suspended and then expelled from the Liberal Party two months later.
In a secret recording played to the court on Tuesday, Ms Deeming explained she had no association with some of the protesters that gatecrashed the event.
“Very obviously, I’m not a Nazi. And I don’t support Nazis. They arrived just in black as far as I could tell, they were to the Left … everyone thought they were the other people who had got through the lines,” Ms Deeming says on the March 2023 recording.
“You’re not going to find a single shred of evidence … obviously I’m not a mind reader, maybe there’s some secret Nazi somewhere.
“There’s no evidence against me. They just turned up. There’s footage to show that we didn’t even look at them. There’s no photos of us talking to them,” she said.
She reveals she was shocked that men in black who were Nazi sympathisers turned up at the rally, performing the Nazi salute while being escorted away by police.
“I was thinking, ‘oh my gosh, there are Nazis here, that’s terrible, but at least the police are taking them away’. That’s it. How was I supposed to know they were Nazis?
“I don’t know why I would be blamed for some random horrible people showing up.”
The bombshell recording shedding light on a crucial meeting deciding her future that was only handed to the MP’s legal team a week ago was played in the Federal Court on Tuesday during the opening address led by Sue Chrysanthou SC.
Why the Liberals expelled Moira Deeming from he Liberal Party
The meeting, which was secretly recorded without Ms Deeming’s knowledge, ended with the leadership team telling her they would seek to expel her.
During the meeting, Mr Pesutto repeatedly raised the “very concerning perception out there that we are associated with Nazis,” suggesting the media coverage was set to increase.
The meeting’s attendees included Mr Pesutto, Ms Deeming, deputy Liberal leader David Southwick, Liberal MLC Georgie Crozier, Matt Bach, and Mr Pesutto’s then-chief of staff Rodrigo Pintos-Lopez.
At one point in the recording played in the Federal Court, Mr Pesutto suggests that the best way forward might be for Moira Deeming to sit as an independent “to give you complete freedom”.
“You can’t hang out with these people, you just can’t – you can’t go to rallies,” Mr Pesutto said.
“You’re a senior figure of the Liberal Party, you represent all of us.”
“We could find Daniel Andrews robbing a 7-Eleven but if you bring Katherine Deves down, everyone’s going to go, ‘don’t care about that, Katherine Deves is in town’. That’s all it’s going to be about.”
Ms Deves was the Liberal candidate for Warringah in the 2022 federal election.
She also attended the Let Women Speak rally in March 2023.
‘Pedo filth’ outburst on social media
In the recording, Deputy Liberal leader David Southwick said that a tweet from an organiser of the Let Women Speak rally was seriously offensive.
The post said: “Nazis and women want to get rid of pedo filth, why don’t you?”
Ms Deeming responded in the meeting that the tweet was simply condemning pedophilia.
“That is untenable,” Pesutto said. “That’s what she’s saying. They [the public] all think that now me, the leadership team, you, the party, hates the [LGBTQ] community — that’s how it’s going to be interpreted, whether any of us like it or not.”
Ms Deeming insisted that she did not believe that was the organiser’s view at all, that she was referring to “fascist … trans rights activists”.
Sue Chrysanthou, SC, told the court: “This is a shocking pile-on”, suggesting Ms Deeming was being asked to renounce people.