Moira Deeming launches lawsuit against Victorian Liberal president before party meets to decide her future | Victorian politics

A Liberal MP has lodged an 11th-hour court challenge against his own party ahead of a meeting that will decide his fate after he alleged assault on a former leader.

Moira Deeming has launched legal action against Victorian Liberal party state leader Brian Loughnane, who is scheduled to appear in the Victorian supreme court on Friday morning.

The latest round of Liberal wrangling comes less than five months before the November 28 state election, with party leaders including Loughnane planning to meet on Friday evening to decide on Deeming’s candidacy.

The upper house MP had filed a complaint with the police, alleging that he assaulted colleague Matthew Guy by “violently” grabbing him around the neck at a gala dinner on May 23.

Victoria police investigated and found “no crime was detected”.

Guy demanded a public apology from Deeming. “There was no uncertainty,” he said. “I did not do what is alleged. CCTV proves it. He did from the beginning and Victoria Police agrees.”

Deeming has since claimed that he misunderstood the meaning of the yoke but has refused to apologize.

He has been invited to the state government meeting to give his side of the story, but it is not yet known whether he will attend.

Opposition leader Jess Wilson refused to answer questions about the process on Thursday but told reporters Guy’s reputation had been damaged and she wanted him to apologize directly to Deeming.

“I think he deserves an apology,” he said. “It’s the right thing to do, and Moira has decided that’s not the case. And now the county executive will meet.”

Pauline Hanson announced that she would not be offering Deeming a position at One Nation. The senator said Deeming’s refusal to apologize to Guy showed the first-term MP “couldn’t admit he got it wrong.”

“You don’t do this to your colleagues,” he told 3AW radio.

Monash University political scientist Zareh Ghazarian said the scandal was yet another flare-up of what the public would see as disunity and disorganization in the party.

“This is arguably the most critical point for the Liberal leadership to solve their internal problems right now,” he said. “This needs to be resolved as quickly as possible because it has already been the subject of so much political news… it has significantly disrupted the party.”

Deeming’s lawyer, Tim Houweling, said his client’s complaint was filed “honestly, in good faith and only as a last resort.”

He referred to CCTV footage showing Guy sitting at a table talking to Deeming and another man. The former leader appears to place his hand on Deeming’s upper back or shoulder area and pull him in to say something, before making a similar gesture with the man.

The attorney said Guy maintained his grip as Deeming tried to pull away, and that the physical contact was “unexpected, unwelcome, physically painful, and caused Deeming to feel fear and confusion.”

Deeming sued former leader John Pesutto for defamation after he falsely implied he was affiliated with neo-Nazis after they raided a parliamentary rally he was attending.