Latest news with #Deeming
Herald Sun
2 days ago
- Business
- Herald Sun
Moira Deeming moves to bankrupt John Pesutto over unpaid bill
Don't miss out on the headlines from Victoria. Followed categories will be added to My News. Lawyers for Moira Deeming have applied to the Federal Court to have John Pesutto made bankrupt over his unpaid $2.3m legal bill. The Herald Sun has confirmed a creditor's petition was lodged on Monday morning over Mr Pesutto's failure to pay court-awarded legal costs to Mrs Deeming after losing a defamation case brought against him. Mr Pesutto now has 21 days to pay the multimillion-dollar debt, enter into a payment arrangement or face bankruptcy and an abrupt end to his political career. If bankrupt he would be ineligible to sit in parliament and his exit would trigger a costly by-election in his marginal seat of Hawthorn which the party fears losing. Senior Liberal Party figures are working to secure the support of the administrative committee to loan Mr Pesutto an estimated $1.5m he needs to clear the debt. There were hopes the committee would meet over the weekend. 'They don't want to meet until they have a solution on the table,' one senior Liberal said. 'This issue is killing them.' In a brief statement Mr Pesutto said he would 'be doing everything possible over the next 21 days to pay the amount ordered by the Federal Court.' 'I will continue performing my work as the Member for Hawthorn, and I reiterate my wish to do so for as long as the people of my electorate will have me,' he said. Mrs Deeming told the Herald Sun last week the decision to initiate bankruptcy proceedings was not one she took lightly. But she said she was committed to repaying wealthy NSW businessman Hilton Grugeon who bankrolled her successful defamation case against Mr Pesutto. 'My goal is simple, to ensure that I am reimbursed so that I can repay that loan as I promised I would,' she said. 'The past two years have been a harrowing journey for me, my husband and our four children. 'After being falsely accused of bigotry, of knowingly associating with Nazis — claims the court found to be defamatory, I faced a torrent of public and private abuse, including rape threats, stalking and personal and professional humiliation and isolation. Sadly, I was not the only innocent woman who suffered as a result of the campaign to expel me. 'This moment should never have come to pass. But since it has, let it stand as a reckoning — not just for one individual, but for a culture of political brutality that must end. 'No man is above the law.' The ongoing public battle between Mr Pesutto and Mrs Deeming has plagued the party for more than two years since it began in March 2023.
Sydney Morning Herald
6 days ago
- Politics
- Sydney Morning Herald
Liberals brace for impact as Cyclone Moira makes landfall
Barring a last-minute change of heart from the people controlling the finances of the Victorian Liberal Party or the Cormack Foundation, an investment fund established for the party's benefit, its destructive forces will be unleashed on Deeming's party room colleagues, her leader Brad Battin, and the party she was elected to represent. Deeming, like any successful litigant, is entitled to recover legal costs owed to her. But if we step out of the courtroom and return to our essential wisdom in politics, this is not a course of action a parliamentarian would normally take. Imagine you are a state MP. If a lawyer, in this case defamation lawyers Patrick George and Rebekah Giles, suggested a way to recover costs that would plunge your party into crisis, force an unwanted byelection and remove any reasonable prospect of forming government after the next state election, would you agree to do it? The difference with Deeming is that she no longer considers the people who make up the parliamentary ranks of the Victorian Liberal Party her party, if indeed she ever did. She said as much last week during a podcast with Club Grubbery, an obscure media site run by a paramedic sacked for refusing the jab and a former Qantas pilot turned anti-lockdown campaigner. Over an hour-long discussion, she talked as a guerilla fighter might about the need to seize control of the Liberal Party and its direction. 'I am not satisfied with the government in this country flipping from Liberal to Labor when neither of them represents anything that I can see as good,' she remarked. Loading Deeming's ultimate mission is not to return the Victorian Liberal Party, in its current form, to government. It is to remake it in her ideological image. In this world, parliamentary colleagues who hold to the traditional values of the party are enemies rather than allies. 'If they succeed in getting me out of here it is not as though the Moira Deeming problem will disappear,' she said. What then, should Liberal leader Brad Battin do about the Moira Deeming problem? There is no shortage of advice. Some colleagues want him to bend the knee to Charles Goode, an octogenarian stockbroker who, as Cormack Foundation chairman, sits Smaug-like on its $110 million corpus, and plead for the foundation to cover Pesutto's costs. Others say the money should come from the party itself, given Pesutto was sued for things he said while leading it. Battin's instinct is to do nothing. Earlier this week, one of his MPs, Brad Rowswell, requested a party room meeting to discuss Pesutto's impending bankruptcy and the prospects of a byelection in Hawthorn. Battin made it clear that he wanted to keep talking about machete bans and cuts to stamp duty – not an internal party dispute. This was before news broke in Wednesday's The Australian about Deeming's legal gambit to make former premiers Jeff Kennett, Ted Baillieu and Denis Napthine and Liberal colleagues Georgie Crozier and David Southwick pay for Pesutto's sins. A Federal Court will ultimately decide whether this is a Hail Mary by Deeming's lawyers or a new hell for a party that has lost six of the past seven Victorian state elections.
The Age
6 days ago
- Politics
- The Age
Liberals brace for impact as Cyclone Moira makes landfall
Barring a last-minute change of heart from the people controlling the finances of the Victorian Liberal Party or the Cormack Foundation, an investment fund established for the party's benefit, its destructive forces will be unleashed on Deeming's party room colleagues, her leader Brad Battin, and the party she was elected to represent. Deeming, like any successful litigant, is entitled to recover legal costs owed to her. But if we step out of the courtroom and return to our essential wisdom in politics, this is not a course of action a parliamentarian would normally take. Imagine you are a state MP. If a lawyer, in this case defamation lawyers Patrick George and Rebekah Giles, suggested a way to recover costs that would plunge your party into crisis, force an unwanted byelection and remove any reasonable prospect of forming government after the next state election, would you agree to do it? The difference with Deeming is that she no longer considers the people who make up the parliamentary ranks of the Victorian Liberal Party her party, if indeed she ever did. She said as much last week during a podcast with Club Grubbery, an obscure media site run by a paramedic sacked for refusing the jab and a former Qantas pilot turned anti-lockdown campaigner. Over an hour-long discussion, she talked as a guerilla fighter might about the need to seize control of the Liberal Party and its direction. 'I am not satisfied with the government in this country flipping from Liberal to Labor when neither of them represents anything that I can see as good,' she remarked. Loading Deeming's ultimate mission is not to return the Victorian Liberal Party, in its current form, to government. It is to remake it in her ideological image. In this world, parliamentary colleagues who hold to the traditional values of the party are enemies rather than allies. 'If they succeed in getting me out of here it is not as though the Moira Deeming problem will disappear,' she said. What then, should Liberal leader Brad Battin do about the Moira Deeming problem? There is no shortage of advice. Some colleagues want him to bend the knee to Charles Goode, an octogenarian stockbroker who, as Cormack Foundation chairman, sits Smaug-like on its $110 million corpus, and plead for the foundation to cover Pesutto's costs. Others say the money should come from the party itself, given Pesutto was sued for things he said while leading it. Battin's instinct is to do nothing. Earlier this week, one of his MPs, Brad Rowswell, requested a party room meeting to discuss Pesutto's impending bankruptcy and the prospects of a byelection in Hawthorn. Battin made it clear that he wanted to keep talking about machete bans and cuts to stamp duty – not an internal party dispute. This was before news broke in Wednesday's The Australian about Deeming's legal gambit to make former premiers Jeff Kennett, Ted Baillieu and Denis Napthine and Liberal colleagues Georgie Crozier and David Southwick pay for Pesutto's sins. A Federal Court will ultimately decide whether this is a Hail Mary by Deeming's lawyers or a new hell for a party that has lost six of the past seven Victorian state elections.
The Advertiser
7 days ago
- Politics
- The Advertiser
Mammoth legal bill stirs up festering Liberal feud
Tensions within a state Liberal party have hit boiling point, with an MP to chase senior members and colleagues for cash if a former leader cannot pay her mammoth legal bill. Former Victorian opposition leader John Pesutto was ordered to pay more than $2.3 million in costs, on top of $315,000 in damages, to first-term MP Moira Deeming following a high-stakes defamation battle. The Federal Court found he defamed Mrs Deeming by implying she was associated with neo-Nazis who gatecrashed a controversial Melbourne rally she attended in 2023. Mrs Deeming was expelled from the Liberal party room but welcomed back after winning the trial, with Mr Pesutto ousted as leader. In a letter obtained by AAP, Mrs Deeming's legal team wrote to Mr Pesutto's lawyers seeking information on his donors. The Liberal MP said she may "have to seek cost recovery through them" and Mr Pesutto knew the legal and financial risks of not settling the case before trial. "His defences failed, I won my case and he agreed to pay my costs last year," Mrs Deeming said in a statement. "Time has progressed but he still has 21 days from Friday to pay. "He also still enjoys the ongoing public support of at least three powerful multi-millionaire backers who can easily afford to pay it." Former Victorian Liberal premiers Ted Baillieu, Jeff Kennett and Denis Napthine were among Mr Pesutto's declared donors. Mr Pesutto declined to comment on the letter but suggested donor contributions were "relatively modest" and he wasn't sure any would come to his aid again. "I want to do everything that I possibly can to raise the money that I owe Mrs Deeming," the Hawthorn MP said. A GoFundMe campaign for Mr Pesutto's cause has raised more than $185,000. He would be forced out of parliament if he declared bankruptcy, triggering a by-election in his marginal seat in Melbourne's east. Mr Kennett told the ABC the Victorian Liberal party room was a "cesspool". Opposition Leader Brad Battin said Mr Kennett was "entitled to his comments" and refused to detail his discussions with Mrs Deeming or Mr Pesutto. The legal letter also named shadow frontbenchers David Southwick and Georgie Crozier among Mr Pesutto's financial backers. Mr Southwick said the party needed to bring the dispute to an end. "It's a line in the sand moment to ensure we don't have a by-election," he said. There were no "hard and fast rules" about third-party costs orders, media lawyer Justin Quill said. But if successful, the partner at major law firm Thomson Geer said it would likely only affect those who contributed substantial amounts. "I suspect this is more a threat aimed at getting Mr Pesutto and his backers to start moving on Ms Deeming's demand for payment of the money owed to her," he told AAP. "If they just lent him the money with no requirement that it would be paid back if he was successful, then it might be harder to obtain an order against them. "But if there's a real link between the lending of the money and the litigation, then the chances are far higher." Tensions within a state Liberal party have hit boiling point, with an MP to chase senior members and colleagues for cash if a former leader cannot pay her mammoth legal bill. Former Victorian opposition leader John Pesutto was ordered to pay more than $2.3 million in costs, on top of $315,000 in damages, to first-term MP Moira Deeming following a high-stakes defamation battle. The Federal Court found he defamed Mrs Deeming by implying she was associated with neo-Nazis who gatecrashed a controversial Melbourne rally she attended in 2023. Mrs Deeming was expelled from the Liberal party room but welcomed back after winning the trial, with Mr Pesutto ousted as leader. In a letter obtained by AAP, Mrs Deeming's legal team wrote to Mr Pesutto's lawyers seeking information on his donors. The Liberal MP said she may "have to seek cost recovery through them" and Mr Pesutto knew the legal and financial risks of not settling the case before trial. "His defences failed, I won my case and he agreed to pay my costs last year," Mrs Deeming said in a statement. "Time has progressed but he still has 21 days from Friday to pay. "He also still enjoys the ongoing public support of at least three powerful multi-millionaire backers who can easily afford to pay it." Former Victorian Liberal premiers Ted Baillieu, Jeff Kennett and Denis Napthine were among Mr Pesutto's declared donors. Mr Pesutto declined to comment on the letter but suggested donor contributions were "relatively modest" and he wasn't sure any would come to his aid again. "I want to do everything that I possibly can to raise the money that I owe Mrs Deeming," the Hawthorn MP said. A GoFundMe campaign for Mr Pesutto's cause has raised more than $185,000. He would be forced out of parliament if he declared bankruptcy, triggering a by-election in his marginal seat in Melbourne's east. Mr Kennett told the ABC the Victorian Liberal party room was a "cesspool". Opposition Leader Brad Battin said Mr Kennett was "entitled to his comments" and refused to detail his discussions with Mrs Deeming or Mr Pesutto. The legal letter also named shadow frontbenchers David Southwick and Georgie Crozier among Mr Pesutto's financial backers. Mr Southwick said the party needed to bring the dispute to an end. "It's a line in the sand moment to ensure we don't have a by-election," he said. There were no "hard and fast rules" about third-party costs orders, media lawyer Justin Quill said. But if successful, the partner at major law firm Thomson Geer said it would likely only affect those who contributed substantial amounts. "I suspect this is more a threat aimed at getting Mr Pesutto and his backers to start moving on Ms Deeming's demand for payment of the money owed to her," he told AAP. "If they just lent him the money with no requirement that it would be paid back if he was successful, then it might be harder to obtain an order against them. "But if there's a real link between the lending of the money and the litigation, then the chances are far higher." Tensions within a state Liberal party have hit boiling point, with an MP to chase senior members and colleagues for cash if a former leader cannot pay her mammoth legal bill. Former Victorian opposition leader John Pesutto was ordered to pay more than $2.3 million in costs, on top of $315,000 in damages, to first-term MP Moira Deeming following a high-stakes defamation battle. The Federal Court found he defamed Mrs Deeming by implying she was associated with neo-Nazis who gatecrashed a controversial Melbourne rally she attended in 2023. Mrs Deeming was expelled from the Liberal party room but welcomed back after winning the trial, with Mr Pesutto ousted as leader. In a letter obtained by AAP, Mrs Deeming's legal team wrote to Mr Pesutto's lawyers seeking information on his donors. The Liberal MP said she may "have to seek cost recovery through them" and Mr Pesutto knew the legal and financial risks of not settling the case before trial. "His defences failed, I won my case and he agreed to pay my costs last year," Mrs Deeming said in a statement. "Time has progressed but he still has 21 days from Friday to pay. "He also still enjoys the ongoing public support of at least three powerful multi-millionaire backers who can easily afford to pay it." Former Victorian Liberal premiers Ted Baillieu, Jeff Kennett and Denis Napthine were among Mr Pesutto's declared donors. Mr Pesutto declined to comment on the letter but suggested donor contributions were "relatively modest" and he wasn't sure any would come to his aid again. "I want to do everything that I possibly can to raise the money that I owe Mrs Deeming," the Hawthorn MP said. A GoFundMe campaign for Mr Pesutto's cause has raised more than $185,000. He would be forced out of parliament if he declared bankruptcy, triggering a by-election in his marginal seat in Melbourne's east. Mr Kennett told the ABC the Victorian Liberal party room was a "cesspool". Opposition Leader Brad Battin said Mr Kennett was "entitled to his comments" and refused to detail his discussions with Mrs Deeming or Mr Pesutto. The legal letter also named shadow frontbenchers David Southwick and Georgie Crozier among Mr Pesutto's financial backers. Mr Southwick said the party needed to bring the dispute to an end. "It's a line in the sand moment to ensure we don't have a by-election," he said. There were no "hard and fast rules" about third-party costs orders, media lawyer Justin Quill said. But if successful, the partner at major law firm Thomson Geer said it would likely only affect those who contributed substantial amounts. "I suspect this is more a threat aimed at getting Mr Pesutto and his backers to start moving on Ms Deeming's demand for payment of the money owed to her," he told AAP. "If they just lent him the money with no requirement that it would be paid back if he was successful, then it might be harder to obtain an order against them. "But if there's a real link between the lending of the money and the litigation, then the chances are far higher." Tensions within a state Liberal party have hit boiling point, with an MP to chase senior members and colleagues for cash if a former leader cannot pay her mammoth legal bill. Former Victorian opposition leader John Pesutto was ordered to pay more than $2.3 million in costs, on top of $315,000 in damages, to first-term MP Moira Deeming following a high-stakes defamation battle. The Federal Court found he defamed Mrs Deeming by implying she was associated with neo-Nazis who gatecrashed a controversial Melbourne rally she attended in 2023. Mrs Deeming was expelled from the Liberal party room but welcomed back after winning the trial, with Mr Pesutto ousted as leader. In a letter obtained by AAP, Mrs Deeming's legal team wrote to Mr Pesutto's lawyers seeking information on his donors. The Liberal MP said she may "have to seek cost recovery through them" and Mr Pesutto knew the legal and financial risks of not settling the case before trial. "His defences failed, I won my case and he agreed to pay my costs last year," Mrs Deeming said in a statement. "Time has progressed but he still has 21 days from Friday to pay. "He also still enjoys the ongoing public support of at least three powerful multi-millionaire backers who can easily afford to pay it." Former Victorian Liberal premiers Ted Baillieu, Jeff Kennett and Denis Napthine were among Mr Pesutto's declared donors. Mr Pesutto declined to comment on the letter but suggested donor contributions were "relatively modest" and he wasn't sure any would come to his aid again. "I want to do everything that I possibly can to raise the money that I owe Mrs Deeming," the Hawthorn MP said. A GoFundMe campaign for Mr Pesutto's cause has raised more than $185,000. He would be forced out of parliament if he declared bankruptcy, triggering a by-election in his marginal seat in Melbourne's east. Mr Kennett told the ABC the Victorian Liberal party room was a "cesspool". Opposition Leader Brad Battin said Mr Kennett was "entitled to his comments" and refused to detail his discussions with Mrs Deeming or Mr Pesutto. The legal letter also named shadow frontbenchers David Southwick and Georgie Crozier among Mr Pesutto's financial backers. Mr Southwick said the party needed to bring the dispute to an end. "It's a line in the sand moment to ensure we don't have a by-election," he said. There were no "hard and fast rules" about third-party costs orders, media lawyer Justin Quill said. But if successful, the partner at major law firm Thomson Geer said it would likely only affect those who contributed substantial amounts. "I suspect this is more a threat aimed at getting Mr Pesutto and his backers to start moving on Ms Deeming's demand for payment of the money owed to her," he told AAP. "If they just lent him the money with no requirement that it would be paid back if he was successful, then it might be harder to obtain an order against them. "But if there's a real link between the lending of the money and the litigation, then the chances are far higher."
Perth Now
7 days ago
- Politics
- Perth Now
Ex-Lib leader's backers in sights over $2.3m legal bill
A Liberal MP has flagged she could pursue senior party figures if a former state opposition leader cannot pay a mammoth legal bill. John Pesutto, Victoria's former opposition leader, was ordered to pay more than $2.3 million in costs to Liberal colleague Moira Deeming earlier in May, on top of $315,000 in damages. It followed the Federal Court finding he defamed Mrs Deeming by implying she was associated with neo-Nazis who gatecrashed a controversial Melbourne rally she attended in 2023. Mrs Deeming was expelled from the Liberal party room but welcomed back after winning the high-stakes trial, with Mr Pesutto ousted as leader. Since the costs order, Mrs Deeming's legal team has written to Mr Pesutto's lawyers seeking information on some of his high-profile donors. Her solicitor Patrick George indicated she will seek to recover costs from third parties and apply for subpoenas to compel Mr Pesutto to disclose communications with his contributors. The Liberal MP said the legal letter, obtained by AAP, sought to understand who aided Mr Pesutto's legal defence as she may "have to seek cost recovery through them". "Being a lawyer, John knew better than anyone, the legal and financial risks in refusing to apologise and retract his defamatory claims against me," Mrs Deeming said in a statement. "His defences failed, I won my case and he agreed to pay my costs last year. Time has progressed but he still has 21 days from Friday to pay. "He also still enjoys the ongoing public support of at least three powerful multi-millionaire backers who can easily afford to pay it." Former Victorian Liberal premiers Ted Baillieu, Jeff Kennett and Denis Napthine were among Mr Pesutto's declared donors. Mr Pesutto declined to comment on the legal letter but said he appreciated their support. The Hawthorn MP suggested the money his donors contributed was "relatively modest" and conceded he wasn't sure any would come to his aid again. "I've got a challenge that I'm trying to meet," he said. "I want to do everything that I possibly can to raise the money that I owe Mrs Deeming." A GoFundMe campaign for Mr Pesutto's cause has raised just under $185,000. He would be forced out of parliament if he declared bankruptcy, triggering a by-election in his marginal seat in Melbourne's east. Shadow attorney-general Michael O'Brien, a former opposition leader, described the legal letter as "bizarre" and "not helpful". Opposition Leader Brad Battin agreed it was a "distraction" for the party and wants the matter resolved. "It is frustrating because it's not a topic that I think most Victorians at home want us talking about," he told ABC Radio Melbourne. Mr Battin turned heads internally in April when he made Mrs Deeming his "representative to the western suburbs".
