John Pesutto rejected 'offer of assistance' from Moira Deeming that would have saved him from bankruptcy, prevented by-election

Sky News AU

a day ago

Former Victorian opposition leader John Pesutto has rejected an 'offer of assistance' from Moira Deeming which would have saved him from imminent bankruptcy and prevented a costly by-election for his seat of Hawthorn.
The former Liberal leader has just over two weeks to pay the $2.3 million he owes Ms Deeming or be declared bankrupt – an outcome that will see him thrown out of parliament.
Mr Pesutto has already raised just over $750,000 in order to help settle the debt and is pushing for an agreement which would see the Liberal Party, or a party-linked investment fund, loan him the remaining $1.5 million.
However, the Victorian Liberal Party remains deeply divided over whether its funds should be used to bail out the former leader, who was found to have defamed Ms Deeming as someone who 'associates with Nazis'.
In a letter sent to Mr Pesutto, current Opposition Leader Brad Battin and Victorian Liberal Party president Philip Davis, Ms Deeming offered not to call in the bankruptcy notice served on Mr Pesutto.
In exchange, the former Liberal leader, and the Liberal Party, would have to agree to a series of conditions.
Theses include: that Mr Pesutto immediately pays 'all available funds' he has raised to Ms Demeing, while the remainder of the debt is deferred until 30 March 2027 in order to 'give him sufficient time to secure the necessary funds and avoid bankruptcy'.
That Ms Deeming's preselection is endorsed as the party's lead candidate for the Western Metropolitan upper house ahead of the next election so she can serve her community 'without any internal distractions'.
That the Liberal Party, through Mr Battin, provide Ms Deeming and her family with a 'unreserved written and public apology for the way (she has) been treated, for the imputations against (her) reputation and that all the false allegations and defamatory slurs directed towards (her) are rejected'.
That the Liberal Party hold a 'wholesale review into existing internal dispute resolution', led by an independent person from outside Victoria and that the party 'undertake to consider those recommendations in good faith' in order to ensure there is never another dispute similar to that between Ms Deeming and Mr Pesutto.
Finally, it also requests that all parties 'draw a line under the events of the past two years and ensure our focus is on the constituents we serve, the party we love and the people of Victoria'.
Ms Deeming outlined her motivations for the offer by citing her respect for party members and her dismay that funds intended to help the party win government would be used to bail out Mr Pesutto.
'I write to you as a Liberal and I make this offer as someone who deeply respects the rights of Liberal Party members to a party that is focused on winning the 2026 state election and securing a better future for all Victorians,' Ms Deeming states in the letter.
'I am dismayed by reports that the Liberal Party (Victorian Division) is considering an approach from Mr John Pesutto to meet his financial obligations in relation to a costs order made against him by the Federal Court after an earlier judgment that he defamed me.
'From the outset, both former president Mr Greg Mirabella and current incumbent Mr Philip Davis publicly stated that no party funds would be used in this action and to now expect the party to cover Mr Pesutto's substantial debts goes against the grain of everything we believe as Liberals.'
Ms Deeming's letter states that the offer is 'not up for negotiation, and it expires at 5pm on Tuesday 10 June 2025'.
'I have suffered through a gruelling two and half years where almost every offer I made to negotiate a settlement was rejected,' the letter states.
'This is my final attempt to spare the Liberal Party further harm and to afford Mr Pesutto, and his family, the dignity that was denied me, my husband and my children.'
However, Mr Pesutto has rejected the deal, with a strong backer of Ms Deeming accusing the member for Hawthorn of holding out for "holding out for the party or its entities to pay his bills".
Sky News Australia's Peta Credlin reported on Wednesday that after asking for an additional 24 hours to respond, the former opposition leader put forward a counter offer.
It is understood this would have seen him pay around $1.2 million of the debt in exchange for agreeing not to ask the party for a loan.
"Understandably, his counter offer was rejected," Credlin said, adding that the Liberals she had spoken to "cannot fathom any of this".
"Clearly, he's now pinning all his hopes on the Liberal Party bailing him out with a loan at an Admin Committee meeting that's now been shifted to next Thursday," she said.
"I am told Pesutto wants 15 plus years to pay back this debt, which means to be honest, he will never pay it back."
Sources close to Mr Pesutto have dismissed the proposal as unworkable.
Speaking to SkyNews.com.au, a Liberal figure said the $750,000 referred to in Ms Deeming's letter was made up of 'provisional commitments' that had been pledged on the condition that the Liberal Party loan the former leader the remaining amount needed to avoid bankruptcy and a by-election.
The Pesutto-aligned figure also disputed the claim the offer would resolve the dispute, stating it would 'simply stay the execution from now… to March 2027'.
'I think it's more about trying to cut a deal on the preselection, which I think is pretty outrageous because it has just got nothing to do with the dispute,' they said.
'Imagine getting that shoehorned in and everybody else has to stand before the membership.'
In a further email sent to the Victorian Liberal Party admin committee, on which Mr Battin sits alongside Mr Mirabella and federal MP Dan Tehan, Ms Deeming hit back at those suggestions.
"I do not intend to respond any further to claims made by Mr Pesutto given his rejection of my offer, but I will make these additional comments to clarify assertions he has made tonight that this was 'not a real deal' and questions he has raised regarding the terms of my offer including matters relating to my preselection," she wrote.
"My offer was real, and you may know it was accepted as real by Mr Pesutto due to the fact that he sought (and was granted) a 24 hour extension to Tuesday's initial deadline and then came back with a counter offer. If not 'real', why did he entertain it at all?
"The counteroffer - relayed to me by intermediaries in the negotiations- was that all of my terms had been accepted except for the amount that Mr Pesutto was willing to pay. He instead proposed to accept my offer on the basis that he make a total payment of $1.2m only, rather than the full $2.3m sum as ordered by the Federal Court."
Ms Deeming added she had subsequently presented her own counter offer, giving Mr Pessutto "the opportunity to pay $1.3m now, with a further 3 years to pay the balance".
She claimed that offer was "almost immediately rejected", with the former Liberal leader then proceeding to cut "all communication".
Mr Pesutto is believed to be 'hopeful' the Liberal Party's admin committee will sign off on a proposal that would see the former leader provided a loan of $1.5 million to settle the debt, although it remains unclear whether the 19-member body will back the idea.