Former MP says move against Deeming will not end well for Vic Liberals

Nicolle Flint warns John Pesutto against ‘dangerous dictatorship’ as the Victorian Liberals prepare to move a second expulsion motion against Moira Deeming.

Former MP Nicolle Flint has said the Liberals should be fighting Labor, not each other. Picture: John Feder/The Australian

Former federal Liberal MP Nicolle Flint has accused the Victorian Liberals of “looking more and more like a dangerous dictatorship that silences dissidents”, amid a second attempt to expel MP Moira Deeming from the party.

Five MPs on Saturday gave notice that they intend to move a motion at a party room meeting on Friday to have Ms Deeming expelled for “bringing discredit on the parliamentary party”.

The move followed Ms Deeming issuing a statement earlier on Saturday claiming she had “never once considered suing the Liberal Party”. On Thursday afternoon she had emailed Liberal colleagues telling them she had advised her lawyers to “prepare a legal challenge” over her nine-month suspension from the party.

Moira Deeming and Victorian Liberal leader John Pesutto in February. Picture: Facebook

Ms Deeming was suspended in March, after a heated party room meeting during which Opposition Leader John Pesutto was forced to back down from a push to have her expelled.

The vote followed Ms Deeming’s appearance at a Let Women Speak rally which was gatecrashed by neo-Nazis.

Next week’s motion is being moved by frontbenchers James Newbury, Cindy McLeish and Roma Britnell, former leader Matthew Guy and new MP Wayne Farnham, but is understood to have the strong support of Mr Pesutto and his leadership team.

On Friday, Mr Newbury tweeted: “A line has been drawn in the sand. It is time for the Liberal Party to clean house. John Pesutto and our team will modernise the party and offer Victorians the mainstream alternative they expect. You cannot be part of the Liberal movement unless your focus is on winning in 2026.”

Ms Flint responded to Mr Newbury’s tweet on Sunday, saying the Victorian Liberals were “looking more & more like a dangerous dictatorship that silences dissidents”.

“The rest of the Liberal Party is a broad church where the left & the right balance each other out to create sensible centrist policies. This won’t end well for Vic Libs; fight Labor not your own,” she tweeted.

Ms Flint, who has publicly backed some of Ms Deeming’s concerns about transgender rights, said Ms Deeming’s “crime” had been to be a woman who “spoke up for women”. “The rest of the nation is watching you @JohnPesutto & your sycophants. Show some leadership at last, shut this down, support women & actually do your job & focus on Labor,” Ms Flint said.

Mr Pesutto said he would be supporting Friday’s motion.

“I think what those five members of the party room have done reflects the concerns that many in the party room, including myself, share, about needing to resolve this matter,” he said.

While Friday’s motion is likely to see Ms Deeming expelled from the parliamentary Liberal Party, she will remain a member of the wider Liberal Party.

Asked on Sunday if there was any chance of Ms Deeming being expelled from the wider party, Mr Pesutto said: “I know there is growing concern in the organisation that this is now the second time that this matter has come before the party room, and I expect that there’ll be some organisational response to that as well, but I’ll leave that to the organisation ...”