Battin wants Pesutto to keep seat amid bankruptcy threat from Deeming’s costs

Victorian Opposition Leader Brad Battin says he wants to ensure his predecessor John Pesutto remains in parliament despite the threat he could be bankrupted by his defamation loss to a Liberal party room colleague.

The Age revealed on Thursday the NSW developer who helped bankroll Liberal MP Moira Deeming’s Federal Court defamation win through a loan had no interest in bailing out Pesutto after Liberal elders tried to spare the party a potential byelection and further distraction.

Opposition Leader Brad Battin is pictured earlier this month.Credit: Christopher Hopkins

Pesutto was ordered to pay Deeming $300,000 in damages, as well as her legal bill, when the Federal Court in December found he repeatedly defamed her by falsely implying she associated with neo-Nazis.

The court has been hearing debate on what that figure should be. Deeming’s team is seeking almost $2.4 million. That, on top of his own costs and the damages bill, would push Pesutto perilously close to bankruptcy despite financial support from all living former Liberal Victorian premiers, including Jeff Kennett, Ted Baillieu and Denis Napthine.

Bankruptcy disqualifies anybody from being a member of parliament. While Pesutto is attempting to muster enough financial support to cover Deeming’s costs, it remains a possibility that he could be bankrupted and forced out of his state seat of Hawthorn – which would trigger a byelection.

Battin, who clinched the leadership in the days after Christmas, said he wanted Pesutto in parliament.

“Look, I’ve known John for a long time, and he’s a great person, and I’ve got along with him for a long time,” Battin said at the launch of a trauma centre for first responders in his electorate of Berwick on Friday. “I think the best outcome moving forward for us is ensuring John is still in Hawthorn.

“But there’s a process to follow. I’m not involved with that. At the end of the day, I’ll be offering support to all my members.”

Moira Deeming after being returned to the parliamentary Liberal Party in December.Credit: Luis Enrique Ascui

Former premier Kennett, who publicly backed Pesutto through the trial, tried unsuccessfully to tap the Liberal Party’s investment body the Cormack Foundation.

Current Liberal MPs David Southwick and Georgie Crozier also made donations to support Pesutto.

John Pesutto leaves the Liberal party room on December 27 after losing the leadership.Credit: Eddie Jim

Battin said he understood some of his MPs “supported their colleague at a time that was needed” and he had no issues with that, but that it was a matter for the party and for the Cormack Foundation whether they stepped in to stop any further bleeding across the Victorian Liberals.

Asked how he could possibly keep the party united if one MP were bankrupted by another, Battin said the best way to do so was by supporting his MPs.

“That’s obviously a process before the courts right now. My main concern, which I continue with, is the welfare of my members, and I’ll continue to work with them,” he said.

Charles Gillies, chair of Enterprise Victoria, the state Liberal Party’s business and professional engagement forum, also made a donation. “John’s a thoroughly decent man doing a very difficult job who deserves support,” he told The Age on Thursday.

On Thursday, NSW property developer Hilton Grugeon, who supported Deeming’s case through a loan she declared on her register of interests, said he offered the MP a “blank cheque” to pursue Pesutto.

One scenario pursued in backroom negotiations was whether Grugeon, a long-time Liberal donor, could forgive Deeming’s debt for the good of the Liberal Party so that Pesutto could, theoretically, wear less of her costs.

Ten sources not authorised to speak publicly said former prime minister Tony Abbott had been involved in the talks, but that Grugeon was never directly approached.

The idea that any of this warring could disrupt the federal election campaign, in which Victoria is a target state, was particularly concerning for some party figures.

However, Grugeon said he was not interested in bailing out Pesutto or the party.

“If this blows up in their face and costs them the next election, so be it,” Grugeon said on Thursday. “The whole thing could go away within 24 hours if the people involved would face reality.”

Deeming’s relationship with the parliamentary team is still strained after she was returned to the party room in December, following more than 18 months in exile. She was the only Liberal MP not to attend a party conference on Tuesday.

Submissions on costs were due on Friday.

Pesutto’s team is seeking more specifics on what legal work was invoiced for, questioning whether costs had been unnecessarily high.

They also want the full terms of Grugeon’s loan and the total value of all of Deeming’s crowdfunding, to argue that this should be taken off Pesutto’s bill.

Deeming’s team this month argued the request for crowdfunding details was premature.

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