Victorian Liberal leader John Pesutto defamed expelled MP Moira Deeming, forced to pay $300,000

Victorian Liberal Leader John Pesutto has been ordered to pay now-independent MP Moira Deeming $300,000 in damages after a judge ruled he defamed her.

Justice David O’Callaghan delivered his judgment in the Federal Court on Thursday following a three-and-a-half-week trial that started in September.

Mrs Deeming alleged Mr Pesutto defamed her by suggesting or implying she was a Nazi or Nazi sympathiser following a Let Women Speak rally in Melbourne in March 2023, a claim he denied.

The trans-critical event, which Mrs Deeming addressed and helped organise, was attended by men in black who performed the Nazi salute on the steps of state parliament.

The expelled Liberal MP told the court those men had nothing to do with her rally.

Justice O’Callaghan found Mr Pesutto did defame Mrs Deeming in a media release, two radio interviews, a press conference and in a party expulsion motion.

Mr Pesutto implied she was unfit to be in the parliamentary Liberal Party because she was associated with Nazis, the judge ruled.

The Victorian Liberal leader also implied Mrs Deeming participated in the rally and knowingly worked with other organisers to help promote a Nazi agenda and white supremacist views, Justice Callaghan found.

The judge determined Mr Pesutto’s defences of public interest, honest opinion and qualified privilege had failed.

He ordered $300,000 in damages be awarded to Mrs Deeming.

Mr Pesutto was not in court to hear the decision, while Mrs Deeming was supported by her husband and a group of women.

The group cheered after the judge left the bench, while Mrs Deeming’s husband gave her a hug.

She told reporters outside of court that she was delighted by the result.

“I am very grateful to the court for their prompt consideration,” Mrs Deeming said.

“I want to thank everybody who stood by me and we’re just going to get out there and continue to get sex-based rights for women and child safeguards for children.”

During the trial, Mrs Deeming’s barrister Sue Chrysanthou SC alleged Mr Pesutto used the appearance of Nazis at the March 2023 rally as a “pretext to just get rid of her”.

She claimed he was concerned Mrs Deeming’s statements on sex-based rights would distract from his political agenda.

However, Mr Pesutto’s barrister Matthew Collins KC said allegations about the motivation behind efforts to expel her were false and had “nothing to do with Mrs Deeming’s views”.

The defamation trial caused Mr Pesutto to stare down a possible leadership coup earlier in October.

Internal detractors sought to evict him from the party’s top job but a spill motion was not ultimately put to the partyroom after they were unable to agree on a replacement candidate.

Mr Pesutto could face another leadership challenge following Thursday’s outcome.

Mrs Deeming was initially suspended from the Liberals in March 2023 then expelled two months later.