Moira Deeming disendorsed as Victorian Liberal party candidate for upcoming state election | Victorian politics

Victorian Liberal MP Moira Deeming has been rejected ahead of the upcoming state election despite withdrawing an eleventh-hour legal challenge against her own party.

The state party held a meeting Friday afternoon and voted to remove the MP from running in the November election.

“Tonight the provincial Liberal Party leadership has decided to revoke Moira Deeming’s endorsement for the number 1 position in the Western Metropolitan region,” he said in a statement.

“The Liberal Party would like to thank Moira for her service to the Liberal Party.

“The Liberal Party considers the matter resolved and we look forward to continuing to outline our plan to deliver the fresh start Victoria needs as a leader in the run-up to the November election.”

The decision jeopardizes his future political career. While he will remain in the opposition party, he will lose his parliamentary position after the November elections unless he runs as an independent candidate.

Guardian Australia has contacted Deeming for a response.

Deeming announced on Wednesday that he was withdrawing his high court challenge against party chairman Brian Loughnane, which initially sought to prevent the party from taking action against him following an incident in May.

Deeming, who sits in the Western Metropolitan District upper house, had accused Liberal MP Matthew Guy of “violently” subduing him, but later claimed he had misunderstood the meaning of the subjugation.

CCTV footage from an event in May shows Guy placing his hand on Deeming’s upper back as they leaned in to talk to each other.

Police investigated the reported incident and concluded that “no crime was detected.”

Guy told reporters in June that Deeming owed him a public apology, adding that he vehemently denied anything untoward had occurred.

“Moira Deeming owes me a public apology. You owe me an apology from the prime minister and the attorney general,” he said in front of parliament.

“They can come to me the honorable and easy way, or they can come to me the hard way.”

On Wednesday, Deeming sent a 12-page statement to the party’s state leadership offering a mediation proposal that would allow it to end the high court case.

“Having all the evidence before them, the state government can now decide whether to mediate or reconvene to disapprove me,” he said.

“When I was abroad and sick when the story broke and I was jetlagged and the confirmation meeting was called, the injunction gave me time to regroup, review all the facts, learn the difference between a headlock and a collar-and-tie hold, and gather my thoughts.”

Deeming had tried to stop the party from voting to remove him from the November election during a one-day hearing in the high court last Friday, but the legal action was formally withdrawn earlier this week.

Deeming was first ousted from the number one spot by Dinesh Gourisetty in March, who was later kicked out as well.

The 43-year-old’s first term in the Victorian state parliament has been marred by controversy.

He was elected in 2022 and expelled from the party hall in 2023 after attending an anti-trans rally where he claimed “doors were broken down” by neo-Nazis.

Deeming later sued former leader John Pesutto for libel after he falsely implied he was linked to neo-Nazis after crashing a parliamentary rally he was attending.

He was readmitted to the Liberal party in December 2024 after Pesutto was elected leader in favor of Brad Battin.