Victorian Liberal MP Moira Deeming won’t be expelled from the party room and instead has been given a slap on the wrist by way of a nine-month suspension, despite participating in a vile anti-trans rights rally in Melbourne which was crashed by literal neo-Nazis who performed the Nazi salute multiple times.
Cue my longest, chunkiest vomit ever. My esophagus? It’s burned from the acidic chunder.
Per the ABC, Victorian Liberal Leader John Pesutto had sought to move a motion to expel Deeming after she attended the disgusting “Let Women Speak” rally outside Victoria’s Parliament on March 18.
The rally was headlined by British anti-trans rights activist Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshull, who is also known as Posie Parker, and organised by homegrown anti-trans rights activist Angie Jones.
Approximately 30 men from the National Socialist Movement— a literal neo-Nazi group — rocked up at the rally and marched along Spring Street, repeatedly performing the Nazi salute and holding signs which featured horrible slurs against trans folk.
Awful. Just fucking awful.
bold choice from the Victorian Liberals to stay in opposition forever https://t.co/yi0dkJb1t7
— Hiero Badge (@hierobadge) March 27, 2023
Moira Deeming – 9 month suspension WTAF? Is that the gestational period for her to be reborn as a full blown nazi?? https://t.co/XFLnaAlXEY
— Tess Hall (@tesshall) March 27, 2023
Surely, in Deeming’s case, expulsion from the party room makes sense due to her support for a person whose website proudly states that “2023 is the year of the TERF” — a person who promotes violent and hateful rhetorics against trans women which delegitimise their gender-identity, like that trans women threaten cisgender women’s safety and that they’re really men.
According to Pesutto, that’s not the case. Per the Guardian, the Liberal leader said he received “important concessions” from Deeming at 6.30am on Monday, which seemingly changed everything.
“Whilst it took a few days, Moira actually provided the condemnation I’d been seeking all along and that provided an opportunity during today’s meeting for me to propose a slightly different outcome,” he said.
“And having heard from Moira along with other speakers herself, where she … amongst other things — and I won’t go into all of the detail — but certainly called out Nazism and also called out any kind of bigotry against the LGBTI community.”
He said she “specifically” condemned comments made by Keen-Minshull and Jones, which is what he “wanted all along”.
But literally hours later, Deeming announced on Twitter that she never condemned Keen-Minshull, Jones or former Liberal candidate for Warringah and maker of foul transphobic comments Katherine Deves, who also attended the rally.
In justifying his Moira Deeming backflip today, @JohnPesutto said ‘I was satisfied with the condemnation, which was the most important thing,’
Here’s Deeming 30 minutes ago showing this for the face-saving farce it was.
The religious bigots have won in the Liberal party room. pic.twitter.com/kaDyc3nZKM
— Aaron Smith (@Aaronsmith333) March 27, 2023
John Pesutto tells ABC 7:30 ‘there will be consequences’ for Moira Deeming – if what she told the party room today is different to her true intentions.
Comments come following these tweets from Deeming this evening. Mr Pesutto says the party will now have to review the tweets. pic.twitter.com/7IctStFxjM
— Sharnelle Vella (@SharnelleVella) March 27, 2023
So … what’s the truth? And also, what the fuck?
To add further shit to the stew, Deeming made the revelations just before Pesutto was scheduled to appear on the ABC’s 7.30.
When asked by host Sarah Ferguson whether there’ll be another move to expel Deeming from the Liberal party given she “walked back her condemnation of the rally and its organiser” on Twitter, Pesutto said there could be “serious consequences” for the MP.
“If [the party room] sees evidence that there’s a difference between what we were assured in written and oral presentations to the party room and what is being posted on social media then yeah, there will be consequences with that,” he said.
“If, as I’ve seen this evening, there are comments on social media that are inconsistent with that … that is a matter Moira would have to take very seriously because there will be repercussions.”
“The party room will be looking very closely, all of us, who believed what was put to the party room … if there is some discrepancy … then that would have serious consequences, absolutely.” – @JohnPesutto on Moira Deeming #abc730 pic.twitter.com/PQlVOJFtEr
— abc730 (@abc730) March 27, 2023
Weeks before attending the hateful rally, Deeming criticised measures to allow trans women in women’s change rooms and sports in her maiden speech to Victorian parliament, claiming “what most women would consider to be sexual harassment and indecent exposure is now legal in Victoria”.
Abhorrent stuff.
If you’d like to talk about the issues raised in this story, you can call the QLife LGBTI peer support hotline on 1800 184 527 or chat online.
QLife operates between 3pm and midnight daily.
Under 25? You can reach Kids Helpline at 1800 55 1800 or chat online.
