John Pesutto claimed Moira Deeming was associating with ‘people who are Nazis’ in radio interview

The Victorian Opposition Leader said the claim he made on radio in the aftermath of Moira Deeming’s attendance at the Melbourne Let Women Speak rally was an ‘inadvertent abbreviation’.

Victorian Liberal leader John Pesutto with wife Betty outside court. Picture: NewsWire / Luis Enrique Ascui

Victorian Opposition Leader John Pesutto has conceded during his Federal Court defamation trial that he mistakenly claimed ousted MP Moira Deeming was associating with Nazis in a radio interview.

The state Liberal leader had a third day under cross-examination from Ms Deeming’s lawyer, Sue Chrysanthou, on Thursday. She took Mr Pesutto line by line through media interviews he gave after he had announced in March last year his intent to expel the MP from the partyroom.

The now independent Liberal MP 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.

The court heard that in an interview Mr Pesutto gave to Neil Mitchell on 3AW, the Opposition Leader said he knew Ms Deeming wasn’t a Nazi but that “she’s associating with people who are”.

“Your Honour, I can concede that that sentence was not properly expressed, and I can understand the problem with that sentence,” Mr Pesutto said.

He said he did not correct himself due to the “pressure” and “pace” of the interview.

“I’m not even sure I realised I’d said that until much later,” he added.

“I know what I was trying to say, and I think it was, if I can describe it as an inadvertent abbreviation.”

Ms Chrysanthou put to Mr Pesutto that he never publicly apologised to her client for accusing her of associating with people who are Nazis.

“Throughout the interview, I make it very clear that the purpose for my decision to move a motion of expulsion was based on associations that Mrs Deeming had with Kellie Jay-Keen and Angie Jones,“ he answered.

“To be fair, looked at in its entirety, I felt, and have always felt, that I was going out of my way to make it clear that it was based on associations.”

Mr Pesutto apologised to Angela Jones and Kellie Jay-Keen in May this year.

“I have never believed or intended to assert that Kellie Jay-Keen and Angela Jones are neo-Nazis,” he wrote in a statement.

“It is also now clear from public statements made by Ms Keen and Ms Jones that they share my belief that Nazism is odious and contemptible.”

Moira Deeming leaves the Melbourne Federal Court with barrister Sue Chrysanthou. Picture: NewsWire / Aaron Francis

The barrister also sought to paint a picture of Mr Pesutto and his desire to hold on to his leadership, suggesting he chose to publish a media release about the rally and Ms Deeming before the expulsion motion went to a vote for his “own personal political interests”.

She said that in publishing a media release before the expulsion motion went to a vote at the March 27 partyroom meeting, Mr Pesutto had turned Ms Deeming’s attendance at the Let Women Speak rally into “the story” for every masthead and television network.

“You didn’t come out and tell the truth, did you? You didn’t come out and make it plain that Mrs Deeming was innocent in any association or collaboration with the men who did the Nazi salute on the steps of parliament,” Ms Chrysanthou said.

“And rather than attacking Mrs Deeming because you were afraid of Daniel Andrews, you should have stood up for her as the leader of her party in Victoria, shouldn’t you?”

Mr Pesutto responded: “I reject the propositions in that question.”

Ms Chrysanthou then described the Opposition Leader’s approach as “an act of cowardice and self-preservation”.

Pro-women activist Kellie Jay Keen Minshull, aka Posie Parker. Picture: Jacquelin Magnay

She also put to Mr Pesutto that he wished to “associate my client with Nazis” after it was revealed his media release announcing the motion to expel Ms Deeming omitted draft sentences stating that the MP was not involved in the attendance and actions of the Nazi protesters.

The court heard that a paragraph from Mr Pesutto’s drafted words made on the afternoon of March 19, a few hours before the Liberal leadership’s meeting with the exiled MP, included assurances that Ms Deeming had no involvement with the Nazis, which Ms Chrysanthou suggested were “exculpatory” of her client.

Mr Pesutto rejected the assertion as “completely wrong” and said it was his media team that had drafted the final media release that was published.

“This was a reflection of what had happened as a result of the meeting that afternoon,” he said.

The court also heard that the full context of articles included in the 15-page dossier circulated to Liberal MPs to justify Mr Pesutto’s intent to expel Ms Deeming were removed to “mislead”.

The document contains videos, social media screenshots and media reports, mostly relating to British sex-based rights activist Kellie Jay-Keen, who appeared at the Melbourne Let Women Speak rally with Ms Deeming.

Screenshots from articles on the Pink News website highlighting an interview Ms Keen gave to white nationalist Jean-Francois Gariepy were included in the dossier, but Ms Chrysanthou pointed out that images of the entire article were not included in the document MPs were to use to consider the motion to expel Ms Deeming.

At the bottom of the article, Ms Keen told the publication that she avoided “researching or policing the entire spectrum of someone’s views” and that “white supremacy and the racism that fuels it has no place in a civilised society”.

Mr Pesutto said the viewers of the dossier could have clicked on the link to the full article if they wanted.

“The reason it was excluded from the dossier was in order to mislead,” Ms Chrysanthou put to Mr Pesutto.

“Not at all Your Honour,” he responded.

Ms Chrysanthou suggested he had been making a “political move” to take out a conservative woman who did not advocate on issues “consistent with the political message you wished to pursue”.

“That’s not correct,” he said.

At the beginning of the hearing, Ms Chrysanthou said she would have to start cutting off Mr Pesutto’s answers. “We’re not going to finish (the cross-examination of) Mr Pesutto today because I’m struggling to get substantive answers,” she said.

The trial continues.