Victorian Liberal MP Moira Deeming has been kicked out of the party for good after threatening to sue Vic Lib leader John Pesutto for defamation. Don’t let the door hit you on the way out!
The Victorian Liberals voted 19-11 to evict Moira Deeming and her supporter Renee Heath (who was in a secretarial role) from the party on Friday morning for “bringing discredit” to the group.
Moira Deeming first gained scrutiny after she was spotted in attendance at the Melbourne anti-trans rally in March, which occurred alongside a neo-Nazi protest. At the time the party agreed to suspend Deeming for nine months, but things changed once she served John Pesutto a defamation concerns notice.
Deeming sought the immediate withdrawal of her suspension, a public apology from Pesutto and a media statement making it clear she wasn’t a Nazi sympathiser, and compensation for legal costs. Understandably Pesutto responded with an immediate vote to evict her from the party.
“I believe I am innocent of all imputations and accusations of any connection whatsoever with Nazism in any shape or form and any bigotry whatsoever toward the LGBTQI+ community,” Deeming said in March after she was suspended.
A lone Deeming supporter out the front of #springst he’s wearing a Liberal Party tshirt @abcmelbourne pic.twitter.com/Jf4VydDdlK
— Richard Willingham (@rwillingham) May 11, 2023
“We need to start talking about things that are important to Victorians and stop talking about ourselves,” opposition tourism, sport and events spokesman Sam Groth told The Daily Mail.
“It’s time for us to start presenting ourselves as an option for the people of Victoria, and that starts by us listening and stop worrying about our own internal matters.”
Victorian Premier Dan Andrews challenged the eviction, saying a vote should have occurred earlier instead of when it best suited John Pesutto.
“The moment she threatened to sue Mr Pesutto, she has to go. That tells you all you need to know,” he told The Age.
“They’re about themselves. What’s more, they’re opposed to everything, including each other.
“I haven’t got time under time to behave like the Liberal Party. And I certainly don’t have even the time to laugh at them, because it’s not funny.”
Damn, king. Drag them through the fkn dirt.
Deeming will remain on the crossbench as an independent.
