How ousted Liberal leader John Pesutto plans to avoid bankruptcy and pay a $2.3million legal bill after losing high-stakes defamation case
Former Liberal leader John Pesutto has launched a GoFundMe campaign just hours after being ordered to pay first-term MP Moira Deeming $2.3million in legal costs.
In December, Federal Court Justice David O'Callaghan found Mr Pesutto had defamed Mrs Deeming by implying she was associated with neo-Nazis who gatecrashed a controversial Melbourne rally she attended.
He ordered Mr Pesutto pay her $315,000 on top of her legal costs for the case, which Ms Legge calculated to be $2,308,873,11.
Elizabeth Sceney and 'Friends of John Pesutto', have set up a GoFundMe, which hopes to raise funds to help the ousted Liberal leader pay the legal costs.
'As a result, he now faces significant legal fees and a costs order that he must, and wishes to, satisfy in order to avoid the possibility of bankruptcy.' it says.
'Our goal is simple. Let's give JP the chance to recover from this heavy setback and continue his invaluable work serving our great state and local community.'
The GoFundMe initially had a target of $3million, which has now been reduced to $70,000. As of publication on Friday afternoon it had raised around $18,000.
One of the names of the donors that appear on the site is Victorian Liberal Shadow Health Minister Georgie Crozier, a political ally of Pesutto, who gave $500.
A GoFundMe has been launched to raise funds to cover Mr Pesutto's legal costs (pictured)
In court, Mr Pesutto's barrister Daryl Williams KC sought a stay of 21 or 28 days on his client paying the lump sum to allow him to consider a review of the decision.
The ousted Opposition leader has reportedly been in discussions with the Cormack Foundation, a multimillion-dollar investment group for the Liberal Party, to cover his legal costs, as reported by the Herald Sun.
After losing the defamation trial, Mr Pesutto lost the leadership in a spill and Mrs Deeming was welcomed back to the party room.
His replacement Brad Battin indicated the party wasn't preparing for a by-election in Hawthorn and said it was up to the secretariat to decide whether to bail Mr Pesutto.
'We don't need a candidate at the moment,' Mr Battin told ABC Radio Melbourne.
'We've got John Pesutto, who is the member for Hawthorn, and if everything goes in a direction I would like to see John Pesutto will be there at the next state election.
'But we'll keep those conversations internally - people aren't interested in what's happening inside the Liberal Party.'
Mr Battin sparked backlash in April when he promoted Mrs Deeming as his 'representative to the western suburbs' amid her legal battle with Mr Pesutto.
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