David Southwick’s secret tape of Liberal leadership and Deeming an ‘insurance policy’

David Southwick has told a court he secretly recorded a Victorian Liberal leadership team meeting with Moira Deeming to ‘protect myself’ and because he ‘couldn’t trust’ the expelled MP.

Victorian Opposition Leader John Pesutto has reaffirmed his trust in his deputy, David Southwick, after the senior MP told a court he secretly recorded a meeting between the party’s leadership and now independent MP Moira Deeming after the Let Women Speak rally as an “insurance policy”.

The Liberal frontbencher fronted the Federal Court on Wednesday for his political leader, who is fighting a defamation case brought against him by Ms Deeming.

She is suing the state Liberal leader over his efforts to expel her from the Liberal partyroom, and over allegations he falsely portrayed her as a Nazi sympathiser in the aftermath of the March 18, 2023, Let Women Speak event in Melbourne that was gatecrashed by neo-Nazis.

In a gruelling cross-examination courtesy of Sue Chrysanthou, Mr Southwick was quizzed on the March 19 meeting attended by himself, Mr Pesutto, MP Georgie Crozier, former MP Matthew Bach and Ms Deeming that he had surreptitiously recorded

“I couldn’t trust Ms Deeming, she lied to me. I felt the need to protect myself from what was about to happen,” Mr Southwick said to justify the recording. “I hadn’t taped a prior conversation with a colleague. This was something that was very personal to me.

“I wanted to make sure the whole events weren’t turned around and misconstrued … It was an insurance policy.”

Mr Southwick, who is Jewish, said there was just a “split moment of time” for him to decide to make the recording. “It was a decision I made walking into that room … it wasn’t premeditated in any way shape or form,” he said.

Ms Chrysanthou accused Mr Southwick of “deceitful” conduct towards Ms Deeming as well as his current Liberal colleagues in making the recording.

On numerous occasions, the barrister cut the senior MP off, scolded him for “making speeches” and at one point sternly said to the witness: “This is not a press conference, this is not parliament, you are here to answer my questions.”

Victorian Opposition Leader John Pesutto (left) and David Southwick. Picture: David Crosling/NewsWire

The court heard that on the day of the rally, Mr Southwick had asked Ms Deeming to distance herself and to call out the neo-Nazis.

That night, the ousted MP took to social media platform X and said the masked men who attended the rally had terrified women and did a “horrible” Nazi salute.

However Mr Southwick said he took offence to the video of Ms Deeming and the other organisers of the Let Women Speak rally sipping champagne and discussing the gathering and said he viewed anyone who performed the Nazi salute as a Nazi.

He said he felt that “the darkest day on the steps of parliament” had been “trivialised”.

Mr Southwick described the events as “triggering” and said it was hard for him to deal with the situation as a member of the Jewish community and as deputy Liberal leader, but that he was willing to work with Ms Deeming.

“The actions Ms Deeming took were more than questionable and I felt very, very upset about it,” Mr Southwick said.

“I still believe to this day that if Ms Deeming followed my advice and instruction at the time to call out and distance herself from those events, we wouldn’t be here today.”

Ms Chrysanthou suggested that Mr Southwick kept the recording hidden for as long as he did because the content would not have assisted himself or Mr Pesutto in disputing allegations her client had made about what occurred at the March 19 meeting.

“That’s absolutely not correct,” Mr Southwick said.

Moira Deeming (right) outside the Federal Court on Wednesday. Picture: David Geraghty/NewsWire

The senior Liberal MP said he held hope the recording would never be needed and he hoped the case would reach a settlement, like the cases brought against Mr Pesutto by women’s rights activists Kellie-Jay Keen and Angela Jones.

“I never saw this actually ever going to court,” he said.

A March 27 partyroom meeting last year resolved to suspend Ms Deeming for nine months; she was then expelled in May.

Mr Southwick told the court the MP would have been expelled in March if it had not come out that Ms Deeming had been sexually assaulted.

The deputy Liberal leader said when the now independent Liberal MP disclosed this at the meeting, he and Mr Pesutto looked at each other and agreed “we can’t go through with this”.

Mr Pesutto told media on Wednesday afternoon that he “absolutely” trusted Mr Southwick and he did not personally see a culture of people secretly recording each other in the Liberal Party.

He said Richard Riordan and David Hodgett, both members of his shadow cabinet who have given evidence against him, are “performing well”.

“I’ve been at work all along ... Of course I’ve had to attend court for slabs of days ... and it will end on Friday,” he said.

Liberal MP Georgie Crozier and Mr Pesutto’s chief of staff Louise Staley are expected to give evidence on Thursday.

The trial continues.