Moira Deeming referred to anti-corruption body over John Pesutto delayed bankruptcy offer
Victorian Liberal MP Moira Deeming has been referred to the state's anti-corruption investigators over her proposal to delay bankruptcy proceedings against former party leader John Pesutto in exchange for guaranteed pre-selection for next year's election.
Ms Deeming is pursuing Mr Pesutto over a $2.3 million debt for legal costs after she successfully sued him for defamation over comments he made about her when an anti-trans-rights rally she attended was gatecrashed by neo-Nazis.
Mr Pesutto missed the deadline for paying the costs, and Ms Deeming's lawyers began proceedings, creating a new three-week timeframe for the Hawthorn MP to find the money or be expelled from parliament under a law forbidding anyone who is bankrupt from holding a seat.
On Wednesday, Ms Deeming offered to delay the proceedings if the party bypassed its rules and guaranteed her preselection for the 2026 Victorian election.
Mike Soccio, who describes himself as a member of the public but had been a member of the Greens, Labor and the Reason Party in the past, has since lodged a complaint about the matter with the Independent Broad-based Anti-Corruption Commission (IBAC).
Mr Soccio sent notification of the referral to Ms Deeming and party leader Brad Battin.
He alleged Ms Deeming made financial inducements to guarantee preselection and requested IBAC conduct a thorough investigation into whether any rules or election laws were broken and whether her actions constituted "corrupt conduct by an elected parliamentarian".
He said he was not a member of the Liberal Party and was not involved in the dispute in any way.
"I simply followed the lead of the [National Anti-Corruption Commission] in that it allows members of the public to make complaints," he said.
The ABC has contacted Ms Deeming regarding the IBAC referral.
Mr Pesutto yesterday rejected Ms Deeming's offer.
He instead is continuing to ask the Liberal Party for a loan. The party's administrative committee will meet on Thursday next week to discuss the request, approval of which would help it avoid a by-election in Mr Pesutto's electorate.
On Wednesday night, Ms Deeming sent a letter to colleagues.
"I am sad that my latest attempts to settle this matter in the best interests of all parties, including the Liberal Party — were not successful," she said.
"However, my conscience is clear; I did my very best to try and turn our collective focus away from internal matters and onto the injustices continually inflicted on Victorians by the Labor Government."
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