John Pesutto put through grinder on honesty and leadership

Victorian Opposition Leader John Pesutto has had his honesty, leadership and decisions made in the aftermath of Moira Deeming’s attendance at a Let Women Speak rally put under the microscope.

Victoria Liberal leader John Pesutto leaves court with wife Betty on Tuesday. Picture: NewsWire / Aaron Francis

Victorian Opposition Leader John Pesutto has had his honesty, leadership and decisions made in the aftermath of Moira Deeming’s attendance at a Let Women Speak rally put under the microscope in a gruelling cross-examination during his defamation trial.

The state Liberal leader on Tuesday took to the witness box to face a two-hour grilling by Sue Chrysanthou.

The leading defamation barrister is representing Mrs Deeming, who is suing Mr Pesutto over his efforts to expel her from the Liberal partyroom, and over allegations he falsely portrayed her as a Nazi sympathiser after the March 18, 2023, Melbourne Let Women Speak event was gatecrashed by neo-Nazis.

Ms Chrysanthou accused Mr Pesutto of making “political speeches” while giving evidence and at one point asked if he was telling the truth.

She offered a harsh critique of a 15-page dossier circulated by the Victorian Opposition Leader in an effort to garner support from MPs to expel Mrs Deeming, saying it “no better than the project of an eight-year-old”.

“We did our best in the circumstances, I was satisfied there was enough information at our disposal,“ Mr Pesutto said. “I’m saying there was not a judicial process. We had pressures of time.”

Ms Chrysanthou put it to Mr Pesutto that he had made public statements before the motion to expel Mrs Deeming was put to the partyroom and before her client had an opportunity to respond.

He said he was worried about the “grave reputational risks” to the Liberal Party if he did not act immediately after the now independent MP attended the rally.

A March 27, 2023, partyroom meeting moved to suspend Mrs Deeming for nine months. She was expelled in May.

“I was greatly concerned about damage to the party and I believed the party would suffer if we did not act straight away,” Mr Pesutto said. “It wasn’t the first time I was concerned about Mrs Deeming. This wasn’t just an isolated ­example.”

A secret recording of the Liberal Party leadership meeting with Mrs Deeming on March 19 was also revisited. Last week the court heard that Mr Pesutto’s deputy, David Southwick, had taped the meeting and that the Liberal leader only told his lawyers a week before the trial.

Ms Chrysanthou grilled Mr Pesutto on whether he saw Mr Southwick making the recording at the time and why he did not ask for a copy after he said he found out about it in either late 2023 or early this year. She also asked if he was shocked Mr Southwick had made the recording.

“I was certainly surprised … I didn’t think it was my material evidence to disclose,” Mr Pesutto told the court.

She suggested to him that he did not wish to have a copy of the recording as it “contradicted” the version of events he was telling the media and the partyroom.

Mr Pesutto rejected this, but said he didn’t want the tape in his possession. He later gave evidence that he had “no reason to believe” Mr Southwick had made secret ­recordings of other meetings.

“Are you telling the truth, Mr Pesutto?“ Ms Chrysanthou asked. “Yes,” he answered.

Ms Chrysanthou in her cross-examination argued that Mr Pesutto’s personal values were irrelevant compared to the long-standing beliefs of the Liberal Party. The Liberal Party website was shown to the court, with the barrister highlighting the values of freedom of thought, worship, speech and association. She told the court that despite being leader, the Victorian Liberal Party did not belong to Mr Pesutto.

“Of course I agree it’s not my party … Let’s be realistic here, I was a leader, I was elected for what I stand for,” Mr Pesutto said.

Ms Chrysanthou added that he had secured his leadership by just one vote.

“So what?” he responded.

Moira Deeming arrives at the Federal Court in Melbourne. Picture: Aaron Francis / NewsWire

The court later heard of comments made in 2018 by Mr Pesutto when he held the position of opposition legal affairs spokesman about African gangs and how it had triggered a backlash.

“When an MP causes reputational harm to Liberal Party should they be expelled?” Ms Chrysanthou asked. Mr Pesutto repeatedly asked to hear the comments. “Are you seriously saying you don’t recall being heavily criticised for comments in 2018 about Sudanese and south Sudanese gangs?” she said.

Earlier, Matthew Collins KC, acting for Mr Pesutto, argued that Mrs Deeming would have realised she was “walking into a disaster” if she properly researched British sex-based rights activist Kellie Jay Keen before organising and ­attending the Melbourne Let Women Speak rally.

He said that if Mrs Deeming had kept up to date on media coverage of Ms Keen, who spoke at Let Women Speak protests in Perth and Brisbane days before the Melbourne event, the MP would have seen reports describing her as anti-trans and as a controversial figure.

The court heard that in the aftermath of the rally, Mr Pesutto received calls and messages about the event.

One of the texts was from MP and former state Liberal leader Matthew Guy offering Mr Pesutto and Mr Southwick a “solution in your back pocket”.

“Just letting you know that if you want an expulsion motion moved on Deeming and no one else will, I will do it,” Mr Guy wrote in a message shown to the court.

The trial continues, with Mr Pesutto to continue giving evidence.