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

Justice David O’Callaghan delivered his judgment in the Federal Court on Thursday following a 3½-week trial in September.

Deeming alleged 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 Deeming addressed and helped organise, was attended by men in black who performed the Nazi salute on the steps of state parliament.

The now-independent MP told the court those men had nothing to do with her rally.

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

Pesutto implied she was unfit to be in the parliamentary Liberal Party because of her associations with Nazis, the judge ruled.

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

MEDIA STATEMENT FROM MOIRA DEEMING MP

I am grateful to God for this outcome, to the Court for its careful and prompt consideration of my case and to my lawyers whose dedication, expertise and integrity is unmatched.

The Judge found that I was defamed in five separate…

— Moira Deeming MP (@MoiraDeemingMP) December 12, 2024

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

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

Outside court, Deeming said she was delighted by the result.

“I am very grateful to the court for their prompt consideration,” she 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, Deeming’s barrister Sue Chrysanthou SC alleged 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 Deeming’s statements on sex-based rights would distract from his political agenda.

However, 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 Pesutto to stare down a possible leadership coup earlier in October.

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

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

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

-AAP