Expelled Victorian MP Moira Deeming remains in the political wilderness after her former Liberal colleagues voted not to allow her return to the parliamentary party.
Twenty-eight MPs filed into Victorian parliament on Friday morning and met for just over an hour to debate a motion calling for Mrs. Deeming’s re-entry to the Liberals’ caucus.
The devout Christian needed 15 votes to be welcomed back, but fell one short, with a 14-14 tie resolved by Opposition leader John Pesutto’s casting vote against her return.
The Australian Associated Press reports Mr. Pesutto had entered the room flanked by his leadership team of David Southwick, Georgie Crozier and Evan Mulholland.
The motion for her reinstatement was signed by MP Bill Tilley, opposition emergency services spokesman Richard Riordan and first-term backbenchers Renee Heath, Joe McCracken and Chris Crewther.
They said they wanted to give their colleagues a chance to “do the right thing” after the Federal Court found Mr. Pesutto had defamed her and ordered that he pay more than $315,000 in damages.
The now-independent MP was expelled in the wake of a controversial March 2023 political rally in Melbourne which was gatecrashed by alleged neo-Nazis.
Mr. Pesutto was found to have made defamatory comments implying Mrs. Deeming was associated with Nazis, in media interviews and a party expulsion motion following the rally.
Mr. Pesutto was ordered to pay Mrs. Deeming’s yet-to-be-determined legal costs and has given the court an undertaking not to repeat or republish the defamatory statements.
Reports indicate those costs could be up to $2 million.
The Victorian opposition leader has refused to resign and called for the party to “move on.”
“This concludes the matter,” he told reporters as he left the meeting.
“It was a long discussion, a civil discussion. Everybody who wanted to speak had an opportunity to address all of the points that they wished to convey,” he revealed.
“Our focus now is on holding the Allan Labor government to account,” John Pesutto asserted.
But that could be challenging with the party evenly split over the treatment of Mrs. Deeming.
Richard Riordan told the ABC he was “flabbergasted” by the outcome.
“We’re in a worse position than we were to start with. It’s not resolved, our party room is split down the middle,” he lamented.
Liberal MLC Ann-Marie Hermans said discussions inside the meeting were “very sombre.”
“Most people did not want to speak. I personally don’t think we have resolved it by having a close vote.”
Moira Deeming was expelled from the parliamentary Liberal party after the March 2023 rally, and has been sitting in parliament as an independent MP ever since.
She remained defiant after the vote, saying: “I will get the apology that’s owed to me and. It is is only a matter of time before I return to the party room.”
“John Pesutto’s inability to admit his mistakes speaks volumes about his character and fitness for our state’s highest office,” she added.
Former Liberal prime minister Tony Abbott called the result “shameful” and a “contemptible failure to act with honour and decency”.
“How can someone elected as a Liberal be expelled on the basis of a lie and not be readmitted once the truth is there for all to see,” he posted on social media.
There was no indication of any leadership challenge to Mr. Pesutto at Friday’s meeting.
MP Sam Groth quit the shadow cabinet soon after the court verdict.
Mr. Pesutto has indicated he is considering a reshuffle of his frontbench, but would not be drawn on whether Richard Riordan would be removed after supporting the motion for Mrs. Deeming’s return.
With Australian Associated Press
