John Pesutto ordered to pay $2.3m legal bill in Moira Deeming defamation case

Former Liberal leader John Pesutto has been ordered to pay $2.3m in the fallout from the Moira Deeming defamation battle.

Former Victorian Liberal leader John Pesutto has been hit with a $2.3m legal bill in the fallout from his defamation battle with Moira Deeming.

Ms Deeming sued Mr Pesutto for defamation and won her Federal Court case in December last year, with Justice O’Callaghan finding that Mr Pesutto defamed Ms Deeming in radio interviews, a press conference and in Liberal Party documents by conveying she knowingly associated, or sympathised, with neo-Nazis and white supremacists.

He awarded her $300,000 in damages.

On Friday, Federal Court senior judicial registrar Alison Legge ordered Mr Pesutto to pay $2,308,873 to cover Ms Deeming’s legal costs.

In her ruling, Senior Judicial Registrar Legge said the purpose of the costs order was “not to punish the unsuccessful party but to compensate the successful party for costs incurred in the litigation”.

It is unclear if Mr Pesutto will be able to meet the bill.

Victorian law prohibits bankrupted persons from serving in the parliament and if Mr Pesutto steps away from parliament, a by-election will be held for his inner-eastern Melbourne seat of Hawthorn.

Former Victorian Liberal leader John Pesutto lost in court against Moira Deeming. Picture: NewsWire/Ian Currie

Mr Pesutto won the marginal electorate in 2022 with 51.7 per cent of the vote after preferences and maintaining the seat would present a major challenge for new opposition leader Brad Battin.

The Deeming-Pesutto furore kicked off after Ms Deeming, a former schoolteacher and Liberal member of parliament, attended a Let Women Speak rally in Melbourne in 2023 hosted by British women’s rights activist Kellie-Jay Keen, also known as Posie Parker.

Some neo-Nazis gatecrashed the rally.

Ms Deeming was thrown out of the Liberal Party room after the rally and launched court action against Mr Pesutto on December 5, 2023.

Top defamation barrister Sue Chrysanthou SC represented Ms Deeming throughout proceedings.

The costs order revealed Ms Deeming paid Ms Chrysanthou $800 an hour for preparation, conferences, other attendances, advice and travelling time, $8000 per day in court with a minimum appearance fee of $4000 if the matter concluded before 1pm and a minimum appearance fee of $800 for short appearances.

“This judgment is a public acknowledgment that there was never any justification – legal, moral or political – for what the Opposition Leader (Pesutto) did to me and to my family,” Ms Deeming said after the ruling.

“The organisers and attendees of the 2023 Melbourne Let Women Speak rally did nothing wrong and it is shameful that they were treated without fairness or respect by so many in public office.

Moira Deeming was awarded $300,000 in damages. Picture: NewsWire/Ian Currie

“I will continue to fight for the rights of parents, women and children and I know I won’t be alone.”

Ms Deeming has since being readmitted into the Liberal Party room and now serves as a “representative to the western suburbs” under Mr Battin.

Ms Deeming’s defamation case and victory attracted international attention.

Harry Potter author JK Rowling highlighted the stunning legal coup to her 14.2 million social media followers in December last year.

“The ‘right side of history’ is racking up a hell of a lot of losses recently, isn’t it?” Ms Rowling posted to X.

“Congratulations Moira Deeming.”