State Liberal MP Moira Deeming will sue party leader John Pesutto for defamation and launch legal action challenging her nine-month suspension from the parliamentary team, inflaming tensions within the party.
Deeming demanded on Thursday that Pesutto publicly declare she was not a Nazi sympathiser and allow her to return to the Liberal party room, saying he would otherwise face legal action. He refused and Deeming later confirmed she would sue.
“Since March, I have tried through a mediation process, with the support of good colleagues like Kim Wells MP, to resolve the impasse and ensure the leadership delivered on the commitment that was made to me when I accepted the suspension,” Deeming said in an email to colleagues at 3.30pm on Thursday.
“I am sorry to say that these attempts have failed. The leadership have advised me that they will not work with me for a solution because I put a deadline on the issue after almost two months.”
Earlier that day Pesutto said Deeming was “free to do what she wants”.
“If Moira Deeming is going to take action to sue me, and effectively sue the parliamentary Liberal Party … I think that would be a matter for her to consider,” he said.
Read the article by Sumeyya Ilanbey and Broede Carmody in The Age.