Nazis at parliament a pretext in John Pesutto scheme to expel Moira Deeming: lawyer

John Pesutto’s lawyer has rejected the case theory put forward by Moira Deeming’s legal team, saying it contains ‘allegations of gross dishonesty and fraud’.

Victorian Opposition Leader John Pesutto schemed to get rid of Moira Deeming because he found it “annoying” to answer questions about her views on sex-based rights and instead used allegations of Nazi associ­ations as a “pretext” to move a motion to expel the MP from the Liberal partyroom, a court has been told.

Barrister Sue Chrysanthou continued her closing arguments in the Federal Court defamation case brought by her client, Ms Deeming, against the state Liberal leader on Wed­nesday where she sought to negate Mr Pesutto’s public interest defence.

The now independent Liberal MP, who was expelled in May last year, is suing her former boss over his efforts to oust her from the Liberal partyroom, and over allegations he falsely portrayed her as a Nazi sympathiser in the aftermath of a March 2023 Let Women Speak event in Melbourne that was gatecrashed by neo-Nazis.

Ms Chrysanthou said the decision to expel Ms Deeming was not based on the reasons Mr Pesutto offered to the media through a media release, interviews and a press conference after the rally.

“Our case theory is that Ms Deeming was expelled because Mr Pesutto found it annoying to have to answer press questions about her whenever she made a statement on sex-based rights,” she said.

Moira Deeming with lawyer Sue Chrysanthou. Picture: Luis Enrique Ascui/NewsWire

She told the court the second secret recording introduced in the case that captured a February 2023 meeting between Liberal frontbencher Georgie Crozier, Ms Deeming and Mr Pesutto mirrored the party leader’s state of mind after the rally.

“Your honour can hear from that recording that Mr Pesutto is unbelievably stressed about the fact he has to face the media to answer questions about Ms Deeming’s maiden speech,” Ms Chrysanthou said. “After what occurred on the 23rd (of February), he uses this Nazi appearance on the steps of parliament as a pretext to just get rid of her.”

She said in Mr Pesutto’s mind he lost his seat of Hawthorn in the 2018 state election because “non-mainstream issues” were being discussed by his party.

“The whole narrative he puts out starting from 8pm (on March 19) is just part of the scheme to get rid of someone who was interfering with his plans.”

Ms Chrysanthou also pointed to a 15-page dossier circulated by Mr Pesutto’s office to MPs and journalists to justify the motion to expel, which contained partial screenshots of media articles, as she argued it was not in the public interest to mislead.

Matthew Collins KC, representing Mr Pesutto, began his closing statement by informing judge David O’Callaghan that he would provide a fact-checked document to him as he claimed Ms Chrysanthou’s oral arguments had referenced evidence that was “just wrong”.

He said the case theory put forward by Ms Chrysanthou had been articulated for the first time in the three-week trial, and he described it as “startling” because it had not been put to Mr Pesutto or members of his leadership team during cross-examination or explored in evidence.

“It must carry with it an assertion that Mr Pesutto by no later than the day after the rally in the meeting with Ms Deeming, together with the other members of the leadership team, had come up with some sort of conspiracy to get rid of Ms Deeming on a false pretence,” Mr Collins said.

Victorian Liberal leader John Pesutto. Picture: David Geraghty/NewsWire

“These are allegations of extraordinary seriousness; they’re allegations of gross dishonesty or fraud and not just against my client but Mr (David) Southwick, Dr (Matthew) Bach and Ms ­Crozier.”

He said the test rested on whether Mr Pesutto, a person who was “uniquely placed to judge the politics of the matter”, came to the view it was necessary to explain his decision to move a motion against Ms Deeming.

The hearing will continue on Thursday.