Expelled Liberal Moira Deeming to sue deputy leader David Southwick

The move comes ahead of a Federal Court case management hearing on February 2 after Deeming commenced defamation proceedings against Opposition Leader John Pesutto.

Moira Deeming leaving the March 27 Liberal partyroom meeting at which the Liberal leadership team first sought to expel her. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Luis Ascui

Expelled Liberal MP Moira Deeming has issued deputy Victorian Liberal leader David Southwick with a defamation concerns notice, formally notifying him that she intends to sue him alongside Opposition Leader John Pesutto.

The move comes after Mrs Deeming earlier this month lodged her case against Mr Pesutto in the Federal Court, accusing him of portraying her as a Nazi and Nazi sympathiser in his bid to expel her from the Liberal Party following her attendance at a March “Let Women Speak” rally which was gatecrashed by neo-Nazis.

A first case management hearing has been set down for February 2, before Justice Michael Wheelahan.

The new concerns notice also follows letters from Mrs Deeming’s lawyers — who include defamation expert Patrick George and high profile barrister Sue Chrysanthou — which were earlier this month sent to Mr Southwick, upper house Liberal leader Georgie Crozier, her former deputy Matt Bach, and Mr Pesutto’s Director of Communication and Strategy, Nick Johnston.

The letters requested that the recipients retain all relevant correspondence, and sought information about their role in the publication of material Mrs Deeming regards as defamatory, such as press releases and a dossier prepared ahead of the Opposition Leader’s first attempt to expel Mrs Deeming from the party.

In her concerns notice, sent to Mr Southwick on Wednesday, Mrs Deeming’s lawyers accuse Mr Southwick of playing a role in producing media releases, making phone calls and participating in press conferences, which they argue portrayed their client as a neo-Nazi and neo-Nazi sympathiser.

“Your role and status was as the Deputy Leader of the Victorian Liberal Party,” the concerns notice states.
“In that capacity, when you made the allegations about a member of your own parliamentary Liberal Party that led to the attempted but withdrawn expulsion of Deeming on 27 March 2023 and then her expulsion from the (party) on 12 May 2023, it meant that many of those to whom your statements were published have believed, and were likely to believe, that the defamatory imputations are true, irrespective of the actual falsity of the imputations and irrespective of contrary information from Deeming or other sections of the public and media.”

Liberal deputy leader David Southwick. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Andrew Henshaw

Mrs Deeming’s lawyers also argue that Mr Southwick’s status as a leader and member of the Jewish community, “in making the accusations against Deeming of her association with Nazism, caused or was likely to cause serious harm to her reputation, particularly among the Jewish community given their history with and abhorrence of the crimes against humanity committed by the Nazis.”

The day after the “Let Women Speak” rally was gatecrashed by a group of masked men dressed in black, who performed the Nazi salute on the steps of state parliament, Mr Southwick arranged a visit to Melbourne’s Holocaust Museum for himself and Mr Pesutto.

At a the Liberal partyroom meeting held later the same week, Mr Southwick made reference to the visit in arguing that Mrs Deeming should be expelled from the party.

The concerns notice also accuses Mr Southwick of making phone calls to fellow Liberal MPs to seek support to expel her from the party.

“The number and content of the telephone calls to members will be sought by way of admissions, discovery and interrogatories from you and subpoenas in proceedings,” the document states.

“In a telephone call to one MP on 19 March 2023, you said that the leadership team were moving a motion to expel Deeming because of the rally she had organised which neo-Nazis attended and the leadership team had the evidence to show that she was aligned to the Nazis and was a closet Nazi.”

Expelled Liberal MP Moira Deeming. Photograph by Arsineh Houspian.

The March 18 “Let Women Speak” rally was organised by UK women’s rights activist Kellie-Jay Keen and her group Standing for Women UK to protest against what Mrs Deeming, Ms Keen and their fellow protesters see as the infringement of transgender self-identification laws upon the rights of women and children.

Transgender rights activists held a counter-protest, and the neo-Nazis taunted them before performing the Nazi salute.

Mrs Deeming’s lawyers argue in the concerns notice that the events of the rally “were misreported and the public misinformed.”

“You … acted precipitately, presuming from the appearance of the neo-Nazis at or near Parliament House on 18 March 2023 that they were there to support the Let Women Speak rally and that there was an association between Kellie-Jay Keen and these neo-Nazis and far right-wing extremist groups,” the document states.

“This was false. You and others presumed, despite her denials, that Deeming was guilty of discrediting the parliamentary Liberal Party by that association and that she should be expelled from the parliamentary Liberal Party.”

Mr Southwick has 28 days to respond to the concerns notice before Mrs Deeming can lodge a case against him in the Federal Court.

Late on Thursday morning, Mr Southwick said he was yet to receive the concerns notice, which The Australian has been told was emailed to his parliamentary address.

He declined to comment on the possibility of legal action or comment on whether he has engaged his own lawyers.

Mr Pesutto is being represented by Minter Ellison partner and veteran media lawyer Peter Bartlett, who has been engaged alongside Matt Collins KC.

In August, Ms Keen issued Mr Pesutto, Mr Southwick, Ms Crozier and Dr Bach with her own defamation concerns notices, giving them 28 days to apologise and pay compensation for making “grossly misconceived, wilfully vexatious, and wretchedly false” claims, or face federal court action.

Ms Keen’s lawyers are understood to be preparing to commence their own action, meaning Mr Pesutto, Mr Southwick and other MPs could be facing legal threats on multiple fronts.