Liberal MP Moira Deeming is expelled from the party in Victoria after she threatened to sue the opposition leader
- Moira Deeming threatened to sue John Pesutto
- Liberal MPs voted Friday morning to expel her
- Mrs. Deeming didn’t show up
Exiled Victorian Liberal MP Moira Deeming has been permanently expelled from the parliamentary party after she threatened to sue state leader John Pesutto.
Liberal MPs voted in the state parliament Friday morning on a motion to expel Ms Deeming for “discrediting” the party.
Ms Deeming failed to show up after lawyers sent Mr Pesutto a defamatory notice, threatening legal action if he did not withdraw the motion immediately, apologized to her on his website and paid her damages and legal fees.
Mr. Pesutto entered the party room, flanked by Cindy McLeish, Roma Britnell, Georgie Crozier, Michael O’Brien, David Southwick and Matt Bach.
“The party has to move forward,” Pesutto told reporters.
Gone: State Liberal MP Moira Deeming has been banned from Victoria’s parliamentary Liberal party
Ms Crozier, the leader of the opposition House of Lords, said Ms Deeming’s threat to Mr Pesutto was ‘extremely disappointing’ and would not be attracted if she were expelled from the party altogether.
“There has been tremendous disappointment from the MPs, my colleagues … and many Liberal Party members who have contacted me,” she said.
Backbencher Beverley McArthur, a Conservative ally of Ms Deeming, was one of the few Liberal MPs willing to say publicly that she would vote against the motion.
Member of Parliament Renee Heath was also removed as party secretary
Rowville MP Kim Wells said the threatened defamation action would make Ms Deeming’s deportation more difficult and said the future of Mr Pesutto’s leadership was an internal matter.
Opposition spokesman for tourism, sport and events, Sam Groth, said Friday’s special meeting should be a “line in the sand” for the party ahead of the May 23 state budget.
“We need to start talking about things that are important to Victorians and stop talking about ourselves,” he said.
“It’s time we started presenting ourselves as an option to the people of Victoria, and that starts by listening and stopping worrying about our own internal affairs.”
Opposition leader John Pesutto said: ‘This party must move forward’
Shadow Treasurer Brad Rowswell, who said he would vote in favor of the motion, echoed that sentiment and supported Mr Pesutto to survive as leader despite the inner turmoil.
“I hope to get out of the way today, whatever we need… and focus on the things that really matter to Victorians,” he said.
Ms Deeming last week demanded that the Victorian Liberal leader agree to issue a media statement clearing her of being a Nazi or Nazi sympathizer or face legal action.
She appeared to go back on the ultimatum on Saturday, saying she had never considered suing the Liberal Party and was instead considering legal mediation as a way to come to an agreement on the terms of her suspension.
It is the second time the Liberal Party chamber is considering expelling Ms Deeming after she attended an anti-transgender rights rally in Melbourne earlier this year, where neo-Nazis gave the ‘hail Hitler’ salute.
A compromise was reached when the first Pesutto-led motion, supported by a 15-page dossier accusing the MP of protesting alongside people known to be “publicly linked to far-right extremist groups, including neo-Nazi activists,” failed . to gain sufficient support.
The member of parliament from the upper house remains an independent on the crossbench.