‘Rebels without a cause’: State Liberals split over legal costs to defend Pesutto

A group of rebel Victorian Liberal MPs is pushing to stop the party funding the legal defence of Opposition Leader John Pesutto and his leadership team after a new defamation threat.

The party’s administrative committee is expected to discuss on Thursday night whether to fund legal costs after a threat by British anti-trans rights activist Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshull arising from a March rally that was gatecrashed by neo-Nazis.

From left: David Southwick, Opposition Leader John Pesutto, Georgie Crozier and Matt Bach.Credit: Simon Schluter

The ructions come amid speculation among Liberal MPs that a member of the party’s leadership team — opposition education spokesman Matt Bach — may not see out his term after the upper house MP listed his property for sale and went back to the United Kingdom, where he once lived.

Should Bach — a moderate ally of Pesutto’s — depart the parliament before the next election, it would create a vacancy in the upper house and in the leadership team, and open a potential factional battle. Bach was contacted for comment.

Pesutto was caught off guard when an informal party room meeting was arranged for Wednesday afternoon to discuss the legal costs issue. It was hurriedly cancelled and rescheduled to Friday morning, drawing out a resolution for two days.

The small group of agitators is attempting to bring forward the meeting again to Thursday, before the administrative committee meeting and to ensure that MPs can return to their electorates after the sitting week as planned.

Speculation is rife that opposition education spokesman Matt Bach may not see out his full term in parliament. He recently listed his property for sale.Credit: Wayne Taylor

The push to oppose covering legal costs is supported by a core group of five or six MPs in the party room of 30, but could attract a few more supporters from the conservative faction or from those with leadership aspirations.

The unease interrupted a rare buoyant period for the state opposition, in the aftermath of Labor’s controversial cancellation of the Commonwealth Games and as the Liberal Party strengthened its margin in the Warrandyte byelection, which Labor did not contest.

The Age has spoken to 15 Liberal MPs – both agitators and those who back the leadership team, on the condition of anonymity to discuss party matters – about the legal funding dispute.

“We shouldn’t be fighting about ourselves,” one said. Another said the agitators were “rebels without a cause”.

The fight comes after Keen-Minshull sent a legal letter to the leadership team on Monday with a 28-day deadline to issue a written apology, pay compensation and her legal costs or face court action.

She took part in a Melbourne rally in March, attended by ousted Liberal MP Moira Deeming, that was gatecrashed by neo-Nazis. Pesutto unsuccessfully tried to remove Deeming from the parliamentary party and instead suspended her in a compromise deal, but she was ultimately expelled after a protracted and bitter fallout.

During the process, one party room motion against Deeming claimed Keen-Minshull had “publicly associated with far right-wing extremist groups including neo-Nazis activists”.

Keen-Minshull has denied this and claimed it was defamatory. The Age does not suggest she or Deeming are associated with neo-Nazis.

Deeming has separately threatened to pursue defamation proceedings against Pesutto through the courts.

While Pesutto and the leadership are expected to have support from the majority of Liberal MPs if the legal costs matter comes to a vote, the move is seen as another challenge to Pesutto’s authority.

Multiple Liberal MPs had sought an update on the litigation that Pesutto and the leadership team face, lower house party whip Chris Crewther told colleagues when he booked in the meeting for 1pm Wednesday.

“Following a request from a number of colleagues, and discussions and confirmation of this time with JP [Pesutto], I’m emailing you to let you know that there will be an informal meeting of Liberal parliamentarians at 1pm today in the party room, where there’ll be an opportunity to informally discuss a number of internal party matters with JP.”

But the meeting was delayed within an hour of the scheduled time to avoid a distraction.

“I advise that due to activities surrounding our GP summit into Labor’s health tax, today’s informal party room meeting called by Chris Crewther will not proceed,” Trung Luu, the party’s parliamentary secretary said in a follow-up email.

Party headquarters was reluctant to fund Pesutto’s defence to Deeming’s defamation threats. However, the latest legal letter from Keen-Minshull names the entire leadership team of Pesutto, Bach, David Southwick and Georgie Crozier.

Half-a-dozen Liberal MPs said they had not had any conversations about whether the leadership team should be indemnified, nor the party room meetings scheduled for the week, and that the opposition should be focusing its attention on the government.

Two Liberal MPs said they would seek options for the party to take out professional indemnity insurance to cover MPs in future defamation cases.

Pesutto confirmed he was discussing funding options with party headquarters while he attempted mediation with Deeming and that the leadership team would contest action from Keen-Minshull.

“Clearly, I think the party needs to look at this,” Pesutto said. “I give the party a wide berth on this because we haven’t been down this path before. It’s kind of a new experience for the party.

“All I can tell you with complete confidence and certainty is that my colleagues will vigorously contest that matter [from Keen-Minshull].”

Pesutto said he was focused on the Warrandyte byelection win and holding the Labor government accountable, and maintained the Liberal Party needed to reform.

One Liberal frontbencher said some MPs wanted to clarify what protection the party could offer given politicians need to speak “without fear or favour”.

Several other Liberal MPs said they intended to use the meeting to check whether the party’s insurance policy covered legal costs.

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