A vote to bring exiled Liberal MP Moira Deeming back into the party room in Victoria has failed. MPs were tied on whether to readmit the controversial MP and leader John Pesutto held the deciding vote – he said no.
Liberal MPs gathered at Parliament House in Victoria a week after the federal court found that Victorian Liberal leader John Pesutto had defamed first term MP Moira Deeming on five occasions, awarding her damages of $300,000.
Pesutto pushed for Deeming to kicked out of the party room after she helped organise the 2023 Let Women Speak event alongside British activist Kellie-Jay Keen. The event drew thousands of protesters onto the streets of Melbourne, and a Neo-Nazi group appeared adjacent to the speakers.
At first colleagues suspended her for nine months, but after she made more comments in the media and threated legal action against the leader MPs made her banishment permanent.
Deeming followed through on her threat to sue, winning the case and leaving Pesutto on the hook for what could be millions of dollars of legal fees. The court ruled that statements made by Pesutto in the days following the event that suggesting a link Deeming and the Neo-Nazi group were defamatory.
Five Liberal MPs called for Deeming to be brought back into the fold, and when it was put to a vote she found support among 14 of the 35 Liberal members. Left with the deciding vote, Pesutto opted to leave Deeming on the crossbench.
For Deeming to be resinstated there would have needed to be 16 votes supporting the motion.
Following the meeting, which was described as being civil in tone, Pesutto told the media the issue was now resolved.
“As opposition leader and as alternative premier, our focus is on holding the Allan Labor government to account, and that includes its new ministry, and also focusing on the byelections we have in Prahran and Werribee which will be held in only a few weeks’ time.”
The Liberal leader also announced that he would be appealing the defamation judgement, following further advice from his lawyers. Pesutto told reporters he did not believe his leadership had been weakened by recent events.
While Pesutto was drawing a line under the issue, his colleagues were singing a different tune. Several MPs who were supportive of Deeming returning made comments to the media describing the situations as “unresolved” and characterising the party as being split down the middle.
Richard Riordan, on of the five MPs who signed the letter in support of Deeming, said he was “flabbergasted” by the result.
“We’re in a worse position than we were to start with,” he said. “It’s not resolved, our party room is split down the middle.”
