By Rachel Eddie and Annika Smethurst
Opposition Leader John Pesutto’s staff ranked Victorian Liberals in a colour-coded spreadsheet on how they would likely vote on the motion to expel Moira Deeming from the party room and which MPs could be swayed, the Federal Court has heard.
In the fourth day of his cross-examination in the defamation trial against him, Pesutto on Monday rejected that he had made offers in exchange for support when the court was shown the spreadsheet and suggestions on how to “pitch” the expulsion to undecided MPs.
Victorian Opposition Leader John Pesutto on Thursday.Credit: AAP
“Pitch – #1 candidate in the west,” the document said next to Trung Luu’s name, who was listed as yellow or unsure.
The court heard Deeming’s expulsion would likely lead to Luu’s ascension to the first position on the Coalition upper house ticket for the Western Metropolitan Region, but Pesutto said this was never made as an offer in exchange for support.
“He wasn’t promised that, no,” Pesutto told the court. “I didn’t ever instruct anybody to put that to him.”
Pesutto said he did not create the document and described it as “ideas bubbling up from staff”.
Deeming has told the court she helped organise the Let Women Speak rally on the steps of the Victorian parliament on March 18, 2023. Neo-Nazis were among several groups of protesters that attended.
Pesutto moved to expel Deeming from the parliamentary Liberal Party in the days after the rally.
The court heard on Monday that Pesutto’s then deputy chief of staff, Chantalle Asmar, circulated a spreadsheet on March 21, 2023, that categorised every Liberal MP on how they were expected to vote: strong no (red), no (orange), unsure (yellow), yes (light green) and strong yes (dark green).
“Pitch – Coalition threat might get him over the line,” was listed in the comments next to shadow attorney-general and former Liberal leader Michael O’Brien’s name.
Deeming’s barrister Sue Chrysanthou, SC, suggested to Pesutto the spreadsheet showed that he would seek to turn O’Brien by threatening the dissolution of the Coalition agreement. Pesutto told the court that was absurd. He said it reflected concern that the outcome of the expulsion motion could affect the Coalition agreement.
The document said shadow treasurer Brad Rowswell was unsure and “could be persuaded by Kroger”, in a reference to former state party president Michael Kroger.
Education spokeswoman Jess Wilson was listed in yellow beside the comment, “Kroger? Josh?” in an apparent suggestion that Kroger or former federal treasurer and Kooyong MP Josh Frydenberg could move her to a yes vote.
Narracan MP Wayne Farnham was also listed in yellow, or unsure, with the words: “Spending time with Ryan Smith/[Richard] Riordan etc”.
It suggested “freedom of speech will be issue” for Evan Mulholland and that David Hodgett had “nothing to lose”.
The document estimated the motion had the support of only 10 MPs in the party room of 31. Another eight were viewed as unsure and 13, including Deeming, were listed as against the motion, portrayed as a proxy vote on Pesutto’s leadership.
An updated spreadsheet was circulated days later, which had moved many of the MPs to a yes vote, though Pesutto’s staff was still not confident of a win, estimating they were one vote short of a majority.
The updated version said Ann-Marie Hermans was unsure but that she was “spending Friday night at [Wendy Lovell’s] – she’ll work on her”.
In his affidavit, tabled by the court on Monday, Pesutto said he was surprised when Deeming was preselected for the 2022 election, given she had been knocked back for the federal seat of Gorton. He said he was concerned her “notoriety” could hurt his campaign in the seat of Hawthorn.
Deeming alleges Pesutto defamed her as a Nazi sympathiser, which he rejects.
She was suspended for nine months in a last-minute compromise but was ultimately expelled weeks later after threatening to bring in lawyers.
The trial is now expected to drag on into late October. Hearings will adjourn on Friday, but the case will likely return for closing submissions for two or three days from October 23.
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