Controversial MP Moira Deeming to sue Liberal leader after party expulsion

An outspoken MP says she will sue her former leader for defamation following her expulsion from the parliamentary party room.

Ousted Victorian Liberal MP Moira Deeming says she will launch legal action against party leader John Pesutto after she claimed she was falsely accused of being an associate of “neo-Nazi sympathisers and extremists”.

MPs voted 19 to 11 to expel Ms Deeming from the state Liberals’ parliamentary team in May following an earlier expulsion attempt put forward by Mr Pesutto after Ms Deeming spoke at an anti-trans rally in Melbourne.

In a statement, Ms Deeming said she would lodge defamation action against Mr Pesutto for the “sake of my family” after a final attempt at mediation between the pair last week failed to find a resolution.

“Out of respect for the Liberal Party members who have supported me, I and many other senior Liberal figures have tried to use the internal processes to resolve this matter and avoid legal action for eight long months,” she said.

“All I have ever wanted from Mr Pesutto was a full and official exoneration so that my children don’t have to live under this ‘Nazi bigot’ slur, restoration of my financial position, and my rightful return to the party room.

“I want to assure my Liberal Party supporters that I remain faithful to our party’s value and that not one dollar of party funds, nor taxpayer funds, will be used in my legal action to restore my reputation and that of my family.”

Ms Deeming described the events on the steps of state parliament earlier this year as having been “gatecrashed by groups of masked neo-Nazi sympathisers” and police being unable to keep “violent groups” away.

Moira Deeming on Monday announced she was launching legal action. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Luis Ascui

The member for the Western Metropolitan Region claimed her microphone had been broken during the event and she had, along with “another young woman”, been assaulted by sympathisers and “radical activists”.

“During and after our rally, I and the other organisers publicly condemned the neo-Nazis, Nazism, anti-Semitism, and bigotry of any kind. I did not know those neo-Nazis and did not arrange for them to gatecrash,” she said.

“The next day, I was called into a meeting and informed by the Liberal Party leadership that if I refused to denounce the Let Women Speak rally and its organisers as being extremist and Nazi sympathisers, they’d move a motion to expel me.

“I was then falsely accused and publicly accused by Liberal leader John Pesutto of being a knowing associate of neo-Nazi sympathisers and extremists and therefore deserving expulsion from the parliamentary Liberal Party.”

Ms Deeming said Mr Pesutto had denied making any accusations against her and instead sought her expulsion from the party room because she was “guilty by association”, which she described as being a “well-known fallacy”.

“Mr Pesutto’s version of guilt by association twice or thrice removed for the most extreme and serious punishment of expulsion appears to be an excuse rather than a reason,” Ms Deeming said in her statement.

Victorian Liberal leader John Pesutto said previously he would defend any legal action. Picture: NCA NewsWire /Luis Enrique Ascui

“These unjustifiable and defamatory actions have caused me, my husband, and my four children enormous harm, personally, financially, and reputationally … I have to bring this to a conclusion as it has dominated our lives.”

Ms Deeming was elected to Victorian Legislative Council in 2022 after a stint on Melton City Council. She has been an outspoken critic of pro-trans rights activities and said she “stood with women to defend human rights”.

Mr Pesutto has previously said he would “vigorously defend” any legal action. His decision to expel Ms Deeming was criticised by then premier Dan Andrews as having only happened once legal action was threatened.

In her statement, posted to her Twitter account on Monday, Ms Deeming – who remains a member of the wider Liberal Party – provided a link for people to donate to her “legal fight” that was titled “Defend Moira Deeming”.

“While Moira can handle the political fight she is in, the financial toll is putting her family’s future at risk. She is asking for supporters not to donate to a political campaign or a party – but to provide a gift to her and her family to help fund the legal fight to clear her name,” the website stated.

More to come