Date set for Liberal Party’s decision over unfounded allegation against Matthew Guy
Updated ,first published
Liberal MP Moira Deeming will have one last chance to defend herself on Friday when her party’s state executive will decide whether to remove her as a candidate.
Opposition Leader Jess Wilson said on Wednesday the Liberal Party state leadership would meet to consider Deeming’s No. 1 candidacy for the Western Metropolitan region’s upper house in November’s Victorian election.
Although the outcome won’t be known until 6.30pm on Friday night, party leaders and moderate and conservative MPs broadly agreed they should cut ties with Deeming.
A Liberal MP, who spoke anonymously to detail private discussions, said Deeming would be given a fair process, but he appears to have lost the support of many of his biggest supporters in the party.
The outrage began when Deeming accused former Liberal leader and parliamentary colleague Matthew Guy of assault, including the false claim that he had subdued her at an event in May.
CCTV footage from inside the Macedonian community event showed an innocuous interaction in which Guy briefly placed his arm around Deeming’s shoulder as the pair leaned forward to hear each other in the middle of a crowded room. In mid-June, Deeming filed a complaint with the police, which was closed without charges.
“I did not do what is alleged. CCTV proves it, it was that way all along and Victoria Police agrees,” Guy told reporters.
Deeming rejected Guy’s request for an apology, which Wilson also requested.
Earlier this week, Deeming said he had nothing to apologize for but that he had misunderstood the technical meaning of the yoke.
The state government will not move to expel him from the Liberal Party and will only vote on whether to remove his candidacy in the November state election.
He will be invited to speak on his behalf at the meeting, a Liberal source said, “above and beyond” typical protocol.
“Victorians are counting on my team to change the direction of this province. I am determined not to let them down,” Wilson said. “I will not comment further until the issue is resolved.
Shadow Attorney General James Newbury said on Wednesday he believed Wilson would attend the meeting as a member of the party leadership.
Newbury said there was no action to disavow Deeming, as well as potentially kick him out of the party room, but that he would not rely on his own views on Deeming’s future.
“It was the duty of the party to take the next step. What I would say was a quick step was taken. They announced that this will be done on Friday and I think this is the next appropriate step,” he said.
Newbury said he didn’t know whether Wilson’s office had been in contact with Deeming.
Deeming first came to prominence in March 2023 by attending a Let Women Speak rally held on the steps of the Victorian parliament, which was destroyed by neo-Nazis.
The day after the rally, the leadership team, consisting of John Pesutto, Georgie Crozier, David Southwick and Matt Bach, met in the leader’s office to decide 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, their decision to remove Deeming from the party hall due to weak evidence of wrongdoing poisoned Pesutto’s leadership.
Deeming successfully sued Pesutto for defamation, which led to his return to the party room weeks before he was ousted 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.
