MP takes Liberal state president Brian Loughnane to court over disendorsement
Moira Deeming has launched legal action against the Liberal state leader in a bid to stop the party rejecting her as a candidate in November’s state election.
The embattled upper house MP will face the Supreme Court on Friday morning for launching a lawsuit against Brian Loughnane, who took charge of the Victorian branch in May.
State leader of the party We are planning to meet on Friday night To determine whether Deeming will remain No. 1 on the Liberal upper house list for the Western Metropolitan region in November’s state election.
Party figures and MPs from moderate and conservative groups have reached broad consensus in recent days that they should cut ties with Deeming following false assault allegations against former Liberal leader Matthew Guy.
Opposition Leader Jess Wilson demanded Deeming apologize to Guy for his claim, but it was investigated by Victoria Police and quickly dismissed.
Deeming refused to do so and said through his lawyer earlier this week that he had nothing to apologize for but that he had misunderstood the technical meaning of the yoke.
A Liberal source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said a legal challenge was expected and was included in the party’s plans.
To prevent Friday’s state government meeting from being held, Deeming must overcome two obstacles.
The first step is to convince the court that your case has merit and that there is a serious problem that needs to be tried. Second, for convenience, the court must issue a temporary injunction prohibiting the state executive from holding meetings to determine his or her approval as a candidate.
Senior Liberal figures said: Age owned by Deeming patience has run out He was among even his most loyal supporters and was now isolated from the party.
Among his most prominent supporters was Sky News broadcaster Peta Credlin, who was former prime minister Tony Abbott’s private secretary and is married to Loughnane, who will appear in court in Deeming’s case on Friday.
The case will be heard by Supreme Court judge Kerri Judd, Victoria’s former Director of Public Prosecutions.
Deeming, a first-term MP, previously sued former Liberal leader John Pesutto for defamation in a row that divided the party after he attended a meeting. Let Women Speak march on the steps of parliament This place was destroyed by neo-Nazis.
Pesutto’s leadership team the day after the rally Met in the leader’s office Deciding what to do about deeming. One of his concerns, which turned out to be prophetic, was that if nothing was done, Deeming would “blow up” the party months before the 2026 election.
Instead, they decided to remove Deeming from the party hall due to weak evidence of wrongdoing. Poisoned Pesutto’s leadership. His successful case spurred him into action go back to the party roomweeks before that overthrown as leader.
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Chip Le Grand leads our state politics reporting team. He had previously served as the newspaper’s chief correspondent and was a journalist with 30 years of experience.Connect via email.
