Dutton Refuses to Rule out Intervening in Victorian Liberals, Urges Party to ‘Sort Their Mess Out’

Leader of the Opposition Peter Dutton during a visit to A.H.Beard bedding manufacturer in Padstow, Sydney, Australia on May 2, 2023. (AAP Image/Nikki Short)

Opposition leader Peter Dutton has not ruled out federal intervention in the Victorian branch of the Liberal Party after suspended MP Moira Deeming threatened legal action against John Pesutto, the party’s state leader.

“I wouldn’t rule out federal intervention, and I make it very clear to the Victorian division that I want this mess sorted out as quickly as possible,” Dutton told ABC Radio on May 5.

“It doesn’t help our brand. It doesn’t reflect on the broader party movement.”

Deeming is challenging her nine-month suspension from the party, confirming in an email to her colleagues that she would be taking the matter further after Pesutto missed the 2 p.m., May 4 deadline to exonerate her of being a Nazi or Nazi sympathiser, reported Sky News.

However, Pesutto has denied ever saying Deeming was a Nazi or Nazi sympathiser.

Deeming was suspended for nine months after appearing at the “Let Women Speak” rally on March 18. The woman’s rights rally was overtaken by a neo-Nazi protest that was marred by violent clashes between the police and trans-activists who deemed the rally as having an anti-trans agenda.

Pesutto told the ABC that expelling Deeming was currently “on the table,” given her planned legal action.

“This is a very serious step if it’s taken, but there’s already a number of things that the party room is considering,” Pesutto told ABC News Breakfast on May 5.

Victorian Opposition Leader Giovanni Pesutto addresses the media at the Parliament of Victoria in Melbourne, Australia on March 27, 2023. (AAP Image/Diego Fedele)

“I will consult with them. I’m not going to air those publicly.”

This follows a warning from party members who said that expelling Deeming would equate to “shooting ourselves in the head,” according to leaked minutes of a March 27 party room meeting, reported The Australian.

However, Pesutto said that he was unconcerned by Deeming’s legal threat.

“If Moira Deeming is going to take action to sue me and effectively the parliamentary Liberal Party ... that would be a matter for her to consider. She’s free to do what she wants, I’m focused on holding the Andrews government to account,” Pesutto told reporters on May 4.

Pesutto said any federal intervention by Dutton constituted “organisational matters” for the party but maintained that he was the right person to lead.

“As hard as it is and as difficult as it looks right now ... this reform process will result in a strong party that is a good opposition and can become the government in 2026,” he said on May 5.

Dutton Says He Supports Pesutto But Wants Issues Sorted

Meanwhile, Dutton has affirmed his support for Pesutto.

“There is a lot of good going on within the Liberal Party despite what you might hear on different programs, and it’s a distraction, and it needs to be dealt with,” Dutton told the ABC.

“[John Pesutto’s] been elected the leader [of the Liberal Party] in Victoria. He’s a decent man,” he said, adding that the Victorian Liberals should have been “more competitive” at the last state election.

“They weren’t, and they need to be a credible alternative government,” Dutton said.

Dutton added that while the Victorian Liberal Party was focused on internal battles, it was distracting them from their job—putting pressure on the Andrews government.

“Whilst we’re a distraction away from Daniel Andrews, he gets away with more stuff day by day.”

Deeming Seeks to Clear Her Name for the Sake Her Children

Deeming said in her May 4 email that clearing her name was her priority for the sake of her children.

“Kim Wells negotiated with you all and persuaded me to accept a nine-month suspension to save John’s leadership in exchange for exoneration from all allegations and imputations made against me (and automatic reinstatement),” the email reads.

MP Moira Deeming leaves the Parliament of Victoria in Melbourne in Melbourne Monday, March 27, 2023. (AAP Image/Diego Fedele)

“And I accepted those terms in desperation, just to get my family’s name cleared.

“But instead, as is well documented, Leadership went right out and did the opposite, continuously, right up until this very week.”

Deeming added that the “entire saga has been unjust,” and said that for six weeks she tried to mediate a ”mutually satisfactory joint statement.”

However, she said that having no response from Pesutto’s office meant that the party’s leadership “failed to honour the suspension agreement.”

“To date, I am the only one who has honoured that agreement. I am suspended, but there has been no joint exoneration statement and inconsistent messaging regarding my automatic return to the Party Room.”

Epoch Times contributor and emeritus professor of law at the University of Queensland, Gabriël A. Moens, wrote in an op-ed that Deeming is still being punished for attending the rally, even though she was not involved in any way in the appearance of the neo-Nazis.

“The suspension is a disturbing development because it imposes the onus on Deeming to prove that she was not guilty by association. It signifies that, in the eyes of the Liberal Party, she is still guilty by association (even if the association is indirect, unwanted, and involuntary).”

The offices of John Pesutto and Moira Deeming have been reached for comment.