Suspended Liberal MP Moira Deeming has allegedly served Victorian Liberal Party leader John Pesutto with a defamation concerns notice, according to The Australian.
This comes less than one day before the Victorian branch of the Liberal Party moves to vote on a second motion to expel the suspended MP.
Deeming threatened legal action against Pesutto after he missed the 2 p.m. May 4 deadline to exonerate her of being a Nazi or Nazi sympathiser.
However, Pesutto has denied ever saying Deeming was a Nazi or Nazi sympathiser.
Deeming may commence Federal Court proceedings against Pesutto after 28 days if the party leader does not immediately withdraw Friday’s expulsion motion, publish an apology to her on his website, and pay compensation and cover Deeming’s legal costs, The Australian reported.
The principal lawyer for the reputational risk and defamation specialists Company (Giles), Patrick George, issued the notice on the morning of May 11, according to The Australian.
In the notice, George alleges that Pesutto accused Deeming of “being a Nazi sympathiser” in his attempt to expel her from the party in March.
“These accusations, and the motion to expel her, leaked by you to the media to be published as widely as possible, were defamatory of our client, are false, and have caused serious and potentially irreparable harm to her reputation,” George wrote in the concerns notice, reported The Australian.
The concerns notice is addressed to Pesutto and not the Victorian Branch of the Liberal party.
While Pesutto is not a signatory to the expulsion motion, he has publicly declared his support for it.
In a previous email to The Epoch Times, a spokesperson for John Pesutto said that the motion against Deeming stands.
“The reasons for this have been widely canvassed, and any further action is a matter for the Liberal Party room. Questions around legal action that Mrs Deeming may or may not take are a matter for her,” the spokesperson said on May 5.
The reason for the motion to expel the suspended MP is that she “has engaged in conduct in violation of Clause 57, bringing discredit on the Parliamentary Party.”
However, Deeming’s lawyer argues that the second motion “does not state the grounds for our client’s expulsion, and yet you still have publicly stated your support for it,” reported The Australian.
“In the absence of any grounds, and in the absence of your withdrawal of the accusations, this second motion, it can reasonably be assumed, is made on the same basis as the first motion, with the same false and defamatory accusations made against our client,” the motion said.
“Apart from being grossly unfair, the circumstances entitle our client to commence defamation proceedings against you.”
The notice asks Pesutto to pay Deeming compensation “by reason of the substantial damage, including damage to her reputation, which she has suffered as a result of the publication of the motion.”
Peter Dutton Urges Victorian Liberals to ‘Sort Their Mess Out’
On May 5, Federal Opposition leader Peter Dutton did not rule out intervening in the Victorian branch of the Liberal Party following Deeming’s first legal threat against Pesutto.“It doesn’t help our brand. It doesn’t reflect on the broader party movement,” Dutton said on May 5.
“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.
In response, a spokesperson for John Pesutto told The Epoch Times in an email that matters related to party governance are for the organisational wing of the party.
“[B]ut I do not believe any federal action is necessary as we undertake this difficult process,” the spokesperson said.
“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.
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.
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.
On May 6, Deeming issued a statement on Twitter saying: “All I have ever wanted, since the leader’s failed attempt to have me expelling for allegedly bringing the party into disrepute, was to have my name cleared.”
“I have had to publicly disclose childhood sexual abuse and endure constant media attacks while remaining silent.
“I was elected as a Liberal; I remain a proud Liberal, and I look forward to re-joining the party room at the end of the year.”
The offices of Moira Deeming and John Pesutto have been approached for comment.
