Outspoken MP Moira Deeming dumped from Liberal ticket
Moira Deeming’s loss of the Liberal preselection battle for the upcoming Victorian state election has put her future in the party into question.
The outspoken and polarizing MP was defeated by businessman Dinesh Gourisetty to place the Liberals in the West Metropolitan’s November poll.
The result increased speculation that he might defect to One Nation or a minor party.
Ms Deeming made headlines in 2023 when she attended an anti-trans rights rally that was blocked by neo-Nazis.
He used social media to condemn neo-Nazis but was threatened with deportation by then Opposition leader John Pesutto.
He was expelled from the parliamentary Liberal Party after threatening to take legal action against Mr Pesutto.
And in December 2024 he won a libel battle against Mr Pesutto in the Federal Court and was awarded $300,000 in damages.
Judge David O’Callaghan found that Mr Pesutto had defamed Ms Deeming in radio interviews, at a press conference and in Liberal Party documents by stating that she was consciously associated with or sympathized with neo-Nazis and white supremacists.
The court also ordered Mr. Pesutto to pay $2,308,873 to cover Ms. Deeming’s legal costs.
