By Rachael Wong
Justice has been served!
Moira Deeming has won her defamation case against Victorian Liberal Leader John Pesutto.
In a judgment that was scathing of the Opposition Leader, Justice O’Callaghan ruled on Thursday that Pesutto defamed the Victorian Liberal MP by claiming she associates and sympathises with neo-Nazis and white supremacists following the 2023 ‘Let Women Speak' rally in Melbourne (that was gate-crashed by neo-Nazis), which was followed by her expulsion from the Parliamentary Liberal Party.
Not only was the judgment an indictment of Pesutto in legal terms, but in terms of his character with Justice O'Callaghan stating:
"I have no hesitation in saying that Mr Pesutto’s evidence at paragraph 45 of his first affidavit is untrue. Having said, on oath, that “in the circles in which I moved including the more mainstream parts of the community I was trying to attract to support the Party (in my view, the vast majority), Mrs Deeming had a bad reputation, particularly for giving succour to hateful and/or extreme social or political views”, when pressed about the allegation, he was unable to provide a skerrick of evidence to support it. That is a shameful state of affairs, because the allegation – which went as far as saying that he “[knew] of no other person with such a bad reputation who has been allowed into the Party” – was self-evidently calculated to defeat Mrs Deeming’s case that she had, or was likely to have, suffered serious harm as a consequence of the impugned publications." –Justice O'Callaghan, para 557 of the judgment
Pesutto’s defences of public interest, honest opinion and common law qualified privilege all failed and the Court concluded that Moira should be awarded $300,000 in damages. It has yet to rule how much Pesutto will be required to pay in legal costs, which will likely be in the millions.
The upshot of all this is that women's advocates Angie Jones, Kellie-Jay Keen, and all the other women who attended the rally have also been definitively cleared of Pesutto’s abhorrent Nazi slurs, with Justice O'Callaghan noting that at all times Pesutto had the information available to him that these women were not Nazis or Nazi sympathisers, and were indeed staunchly opposed to the views of Nazis and the like:
"At all relevant times, including when he gave approval to release the EMD to the media, Mr Pesutto had before him, or available to him, evidence or material that a reasonable person would understand to make it readily apparent, contrary to Mr Pesutto’s claims on the day of his media “blitz” (20 March), that neither Ms Keen nor Ms Jones were Nazis, Nazi sympathisers, neo-Nazis or anything of the sort; that they in fact staunchly opposed such people and views; and that Ms Keen’s “association” with right-wing extremists and the like was an association only in the sense that she had agreed to be, and was, interviewed by individuals (like Mr Gariépy and Ms Soco from Soldiers of Christ)." –Justice O'Callaghan, para 684 of the judgment
Justice has never been more deserving, and Moira’s victory is a victory for us all.
Not only did this courageous woman stand up for herself and her family, but against the intimidation and silencing of all women (and men) who dare speak out about the sex-based rights of women and girls and the harm to kids being wrought by radical gender ideology.
And it has been an absolute honour to stand with Moira against the terrible injustice she has faced over the past two years, and in the many battles for truth, justice and common sense we are facing here in Australia and our broader culture.
As Moira told the media after the decision was handed down:
Hear, hear!
As a result of the decision, five Victorian Liberal MPs have now called for a vote "to do the right thing" and reinstate Moira to the parliamentary party room.
"It is a simple matter of fairness," reads the joint statement signed by Liberal MPs Bill Tilley, Richard Riordan, Renee Heath, Joe McCracken and Chris Crewther.
"As Justice O'Callaghan's judgment makes clear, the justification put to the party room for Moira Deeming MP's expulsion was fundamentally flawed."
“Liberal Party members, and indeed all Victorians, expect their elected Liberal Members to act with integrity, and to do right by our colleagues as we would by the State. A vote for this motion would show that we take these expectations seriously."
Exactly. There was never any justification for expelling Moira, and the only just outcome is that she is re-instated to the party room immediately.
The joint statement follows Liberal MP Bev McArthur's public call for a leadership spill the day after the judgment and Sam Groth's announcement that he would be resigning from the front bench as he could no longer serve under Pesutto.
I look forward to seeing whether at the vote this Friday, the rest of the Victorian Liberal Party has as much integrity as these MPs.
To learn more about the Federal Court's decision, I highly recommend watching Peta Credlin’s excellent wrap up of the case plus her exclusive interview with Moira. You can also read the judgment here.
Rachael Wong is the CEO of Women's Forum Australia
Women’s Forum Australia is an independent think tank that undertakes research, education and public policy advocacy on issues affecting women and girls, with a particular focus on addressing behaviours and practices that are harmful and abusive to them. We are a non-partisan, non-religious, tax-deductible charity. We do not receive any government funding and rely solely on donations to make an impact. Support our work today.
| I’ll stand with women ▷ |