Defamation ‘roadshow’ as secret recording emerges
Moira Deeming was "distraught" her own children called her a Nazi, an affidavit from a friend says. Photo: AAP
Victorian Liberal leader John Pesutto has been accused of embarking on a defamation “roadshow” against expelled MP Moira Deeming, as an audio recording emerges that allegedly contradicts his evidence in a high-stakes court battle.
Deeming launched court defamation action against the Liberal leader over comments he made about her attending a 2023 Let Women Speak rally that was gatecrashed by a group of masked men who performed the Nazi salute.
Several Liberal politicians will give evidence in the three-week trial including Senator Sarah Henderson, current Victorian Liberal MP Renee Heath and former MP Matt Bach.
A diagram submitted to the court on Monday showed five groups of activists and protesters who support various causes were around parliament on the day of the Let Women Speak Rally.
Deeming’s barrister Sue Chrysanthou SC said her client did not see anyone perform a Nazi salute until a group of men, who had nothing to do with her rally, were escorted away by police.
“Really all those men did in connection with my client was interfere with a group of women,” Chrysanthou said.
She claimed Pesutto then went on “quite the roadshow to defame my client” in media interviews about the events outside parliament.
Chrysanthou accused him of embarking on a “campaign of destruction” against Deeming, who had such a good reputation she was chosen as party whip before “he tarred her with the Nazi brush”.
An audio recording that contradicts Pesutto’s evidence about what happened in a key meeting between the party’s senior leadership and Deeming emerged one week before the trial started, Chrysanthou said.
She alleged Pesutto, who is a defamation lawyer, did not tell his counsel that senior Liberal David Southwick had the 70-minute recording of the meeting.
“Knowing there was a recording and not mention it, not provide it to his lawyers, it’s very strange conduct,” Chrysanthou told the Federal Court on Monday.
Multiple text messages and emails between Liberal staffers and politicians were read out in court, including from Pesutto’s chief of staff Louise Staley, who said he should “consider expelling” Deeming on the night of the rally.
“I think we might need to discuss Moira. Do we really think her misjudgment, and worse, won’t keep hurting us?” Pesutto texted Southwick.
Chrysanthou previously represented broadcaster Lisa Wilkinson in Bruce Lehrmann’s high-profile case against Network Ten earlier in the year.
Pesutto arrived at court holding hands with his wife, Betty, along with his barrister Matt Collins KC, who represented Network Ten in the same civil case.
Deeming was initially suspended then expelled from the Liberal Party before becoming an independent in parliament.
Mediation between her and Pesutto broke down in 2023 over the former Liberal MP’s demand to return to the party room without conditions.
Pesutto denies wrongdoing and previously reached settlements with rally speaker Kellie-Jay Keen and organiser Angela Jones, issuing both women a public apology.
His barrister is yet to address the court.
-AAP