Victoria’s opposition leader John Pesutto has used his deciding vote to block ousted MP Moira Deeming from re-entering the Victorian Liberal parliamentary party room. Ms Deeming was expelled last year following her involvement in an anti-trans-rights rally — she then sued Mr Pesutto over comments he made linking he to neo-Nazis that gate crashed the event.
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TVTranscript
00:00Well, this was an extraordinary meeting called by MPs who were supporters of Moira Deeming.
00:07She won her federal court defamation proceeding against John Pesciutto last week.
00:11She was found to have been defamed after he alleged that she was associating with neo-Nazis.
00:17Now she'd been expelled and suspended from the party for her attendance in an anti-trans
00:21rights rally and the fact that she'd sued the leader.
00:24But because of her court victory, a group of MPs moved this motion and they met here
00:27today to decide whether she should be reinstated to the Liberal Party room.
00:31It was drawn 14 each.
00:32John Pesciutto used his casting vote to ensure that that was a 15-14 defeat.
00:38They would have needed 16 anyway to get her back in, but it shows how divided this party
00:42is and how much he didn't want her to return.
00:44Let's have a listen to John Pesciutto speaking a short time ago.
00:48There were people who felt passionately on both sides of the debate, but everybody had
00:52a chance to speak and to contribute to the debate and a vote was taken.
00:56There was a constitutional requirement in place.
00:59It's been had.
01:00This marks a bookend to this issue.
01:05John Pesciutto says this is a bookend to this issue.
01:07That's unlikely to be the case.
01:09As you heard, there's some real deep anger from MPs that want her returned.
01:13They want this issue over because the membership of the Liberal Party is screaming about this.
01:18They're sick and tired of it.
01:19They want the wounds to be healed.
01:21They also feel that Moira Deeming has been mistreated.
01:24They believe in some of the things she's had to say.
01:27While this may be over for now, the division in this party that's gripped it for years
01:32and years continues.
01:33It couldn't come at a worse time with two by-elections in February in Paran and Werribee
01:38that the Liberal Party need to do well on.
01:41Basically, this comes down to John Pesciutto's leadership.
01:44There's been questions about his leadership for months, for years, ever since he decided
01:48to try and expel her in March 2023.
01:52This does little to quell that anger.
01:54In fact, it's probably only going to fan the flames.
01:56As one MP said, the abyss has been dug even deeper and you can't imagine this won't be
02:01a summer of discontent.