John Pesutto faces hostile party meeting over his bungled handling of Moira Deeming’s 2023 expulsion
Embattled Victorian Liberal leader John Pesutto faces a special party room meeting to debate his handling and the future of ousted MP Moira Deeming, with a spill before Christmas ‘not ruled out’.
Embattled Victorian Liberal leader John Pesutto will face a special party room meeting on Friday to debate his handling of the expulsion of ousted MP Moira Deeming.
Five MPs have backed the meeting which is not specifically about any leadership spill but this has not been ruled out as a possibility.
The motion says it will give MPs the chance to “do the right thing”, which appears to be to decide whether Ms Deeming should be able to return to the parliamentary party.
“The Victorian people need a strong and cohesive Liberal representation more than ever before, as debt and crime spiral out of control and the cost of living is becoming unbearable for so many hardworking Victorians,” the statement reads.
It was signed by MPs Richard Riordan, Bill Tilley, Renee Heath, Joe McCracken and Chris Crewther.
Under party rules a special meeting can be held with three days’ notice if it is not a spill motion, a senior Liberal said.
“It is a simple matter of fairness,” the MPs wrote.
“As Justice (David) O’Callaghan’s judgment makes clear, the justification put to the party room for Moira Deeming MP’s expulsion was fundamentally flawed.
“Liberal Party members, and indeed all Victorians, expect their elected Liberal members to act with integrity, and to do right by our colleagues as we would by the state.”
The motion sparks a crisis for Mr Pesutto, who faces a crippling costs ruling in the Federal Court who lose five to zero the defamation action brought by Ms Deeming.
It comes after disgruntled frontbencher Sam Groth quit on Friday over Mr Pesutto’s handling of the issue.
Mr Groth declared that he could not ethically remain on the frontbench given the nature of Mr Pesutto’s defamation defeat.
A senior Liberal said on Monday there was anger across the party about the handling of Ms Deeming.
“There is white hot anger,’’ the MP said. Concerns about Mr Pesutto’s leadership are cross-factional but his heaviest critics are outside the moderate grouping, which has the numbers in the party room.
The party room was described last week by one senior MP as “volatile” in the wake of Thursday’s judgment.
“Elements of the party room are like a tinderbox at the moment, anything could happen,” the MP said.
The MP said a spill motion before Christmas could not be ruled out.
Ms Deeming was awarded $300,000 in damages after she was linked with neo-Nazis who gatecrashed a women’s rights rally in 2023.
But the costs in the case could run to millions of dollars.
Ms Deeming, an independent MP since her expulsion from the Liberal partyroom last year, sued Mr Pesutto over allegations that he falsely portrayed her as a Nazi sympathiser after she helped organise and attended a Let Women Speak rally that was gatecrashed by neo-Nazis.
Judge O’Callaghan found Mr Pesutto defamed Ms Deeming in five media appearances and in a document supporting her expulsion from the parliamentary party.
He dismissed each and every point of defence offered by the Opposition Leader.
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