Liberal infighting: party rocked by assault accusation

A state Liberal MP is under police investigation following an allegation of assault on an MP.

According to newspaper reports, two current Victorian Liberal MPs, one male and one female, attended the event.

Victoria Police has confirmed officers are investigating an alleged assault at an event in Sunshine West on May 23.

“A woman was reportedly assaulted by a man at an event held at an event venue on Somerville Road,” police said.

The woman left the scene following the incident and did not require medical attention.

He reported the situation to the police on June 16.

The claim emerged five months after state elections in which the party was trying to form a three-term Labor government but was also facing a rising One Nation.

It has been rocked by a series of scandals, including the departure of former deputy leader Sam Groth from his Mornington Peninsula seat of Nepean.

The first-term MP said the public pressure on his family was significant and claimed some of it came from “my own party”.

Meanwhile, the fight in the courts continues after Liberal MP Moira Deeming successfully sued former leader John Pesutto for libel after he implied he was linked to neo-Nazis.

Mr Pesutto was ordered to pay Ms Deeming $2.3 million in legal costs and faced bankruptcy, which would have forced him to leave parliament.

The provincial Liberals’ executive committee agreed to loan Mr. Pesutto $1.55 million, but committee member Colleen Harkin and four others on the committee tried to block the payment over alleged violations of party rules.

They launched a Supreme Court challenge that is still active.

Ms. Harkin has since defected to One Nation.

Ms Deeming was also unseated in the preselection for the Western Metropolitan upper house seat before it was sensationally reconfirmed unopposed.

Successful challenger Dinesh Gourisetty had to step aside for providing a character reference for a previously convicted child sex offender.