The internal war within the Victorian Liberal party is raging on and the latest development has seen members of the public refer both conservative MP Moira Deeming and her financial backer Hilton Grugeon to the state’s Anti-corruption body.
The referrals related to settlement offers put forward in relation to former leader John Pesutto’s legal bills that stem from Deeming’s successful defamation case earlier this year.
The court found that Pesutto had defamed Deeming in a series of media interviews and press conferences that followed her appearance at the 2023 Let Women Speak rally outside the Victorian Parliament.
Pesutto was also ordered to pay damages of $300,000, as well as Deeming’s legal costs that came to $2.3 million and he’ll also have his own legal bills expected to be of a similar amount to those put forward by Deeming’s team.
If Pesutto is unable to pay the cost within the next week he will be forced to file for bankruptcy, and will also have to resign from parliament. His resignation would trigger a by-election that many people believe would see the Liberal party lose the seat.
Last week it was reported that Deeming had put forward an settlement offer that would have allowed Pesutto more time to pay off the debt, but it also called on the party to guarantee her pre-selection ahead of the next election.
It has also been reported that businessman Hilton Grugeon also putforward a payment plan for Pesutto, but it came with a stipulation that Pesutto could not launch a challenge for the party’s leadership in the next three years.
OutinPerth does not suggest that either Deeming or Grugeon have done anything wrong, only that referrals have be made to the Victorian IBAC.
The 2023 rally was organised by British provocateur Kellie-Jay Keen and toured around Australia, drawing large protests at each stop around the nation.
At the Melbourne event a group of neo-Nazi’s gatecrashed the event and stood adjacent to the Let Women Speak event, antagonising the protesters. In the days that followed Deeming’s Liberal party colleagues banished her from the party room at Pesutto’s urging. The court later found that his comments in the lead up to that action had been defamatory.
After the court handed down its result Deeming was readmitted to the Liberal party and Pesutto stood down from his leadership position. Under new leader Brad Battin Deeming has been promoted to the special role of “representative of the western suburbs.”
