Latest news with #LetWomenSpeak
Epoch Times
20-05-2025
- Politics
- Epoch Times
Pesutto Ordered to Pay $2.3 Million in Defamation Costs, Risks Losing Seat
The Victorian Liberal Party faces the prospect of losing a seat and former leader, John Pesutto, if he is bankrupted trying to pay a $2.3 million penalty after losing his defamation case brought by Moria Deeming. Deeming is a Liberal Party member of the state's Legislative Council, she filed a defamation case against Pesutto after he made remarks about her attending a women's rights rally called, 'Let Women Speak,' that featured internationally known activist Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshull, also known as Posie Parker. The rally was gate-crashed by uninvited neo-Nazis, who claimed they were there in support of Parker. Pesutto subsequently made remarks that the court found implied that Deeming associated with Nazis. She denied any such connection and said Pesutto's words damaged her reputation and thus constituted defamation. She offered as evidence a flood of negative social media comments—some of which are quoted in the When Deeming threatened to take legal action against her then-leader, she was expelled from the party, though she was subsequently reinstated after Pesutto lost the leadership to Brad Battin in December last year. Related Stories 9/1/2023 12/26/2024 Independent MP Moira Deeming (centre) speaks to media outside the Federal Court of Australia in Melbourne, Australia on Dec. 12, 2024. AAP Image/Joel Carrett Also that month, the Federal Court ordered Pesutto to pay Deeming $315,000 in damages, and the legal argument since then has centred on the level of costs. Deeming's legal team sought $2.4 million while Pesutto's countered with $1.8 million, arguing that she had crowd-funded some of her expenses. But registrar Alison Legge decided that money that was gifted or loaned was not relevant to the costs order and ruled that Pesutto must pay $2.309 million towards Deeming's costs. The barrister acting for Pesutto, Daryl Williams, said his client intends to request more time to pay, so he can consider whether to appeal on the basis that the crowdfunding was not taken into account. Both Deeming and Pesutto are still in parliament, but if Pessutto is bankrupted as a result of being unable to pay—which is likely—that will disqualify him from holding elected office. If he is forced to resign, there is no guarantee the Liberals will retain his seat of Hawthorn in eastern Melbourne. Meanwhile, all the living Victorian Liberal Premiers—Jeff Kennett, Ted Baillieu and Denis Napthine—had donated to a fund to help pay Pesutto's expenses, and he's now expected to launch his own crowdfunding drive. But the Liberal Party and its associated entity, the Cormack Foundation, appear unconvinced by arguments that they should help Pesutto, even with a loan. Battin refused to comment on the issue, other than to say he'd like to see Pesutto remain in parliament and contest Hawthorn in November 2026.
The Age
19-05-2025
- Politics
- The Age
‘No sugar-coating it': John Pesutto on his fight to survive bankruptcy
'I honestly don't know, and I kind of don't want to turn my mind to that. Because it's in my nature, and my ethos is just to give it everything and to try to avoid that scenario,' Pesutto said. 'I've had my ups and downs and fights and wins and losses over the years. But if I make it through this one, I think this would be the comeback of comebacks if I pull this off.' Pesutto has had no luck asking the Victorian Liberal Party to step in — 'they made it clear they weren't' — but has formally asked associated entity the Cormack Foundation, which has previously rejected informal approaches. Party sources do not expect the foundation to step in but Pesutto said he remained hopeful. 'I think people are now realising, 'okay, we have to decide: do we want to contribute to avoid a byelection, or do you want a byelection?',' Pesutto said. Opposition Leader Brad Battin — who overthrew Pesutto in the days after Christmas — refused to be drawn into the saga on Monday and would not say whether he'd make any donation to Pesutto's cause. 'I'm very clear,' Battin said. 'I'm keeping all my confidential conversations with my colleagues confidential.' Loading Defending Hawthorn could cost the Liberal Party upwards of $500,000. Losing the seat, held on a tight 1.7 per cent margin, would push the opposition further from its path to government. Deeming supporters sheet blame for a possible byelection on Pesutto, given the costs stem from his defamatory comments two years ago after she helped organise a Let Women Speak rally that was gatecrashed by neo-Nazis. Deeming has always denounced Nazism, and rejects that her cause is anti-trans. The Age contacted Deeming on Monday. Pesutto has been criticised within the party for allowing the action to get to court, but insists he did everything to settle. 'The idea that I didn't try to settle is nonsense. And I feel strongly about this ... The idea that I wouldn't want to settle that is preposterous.' Both parties exchanged offers and Pesutto said he was always willing to compromise. 'But every offer I was required to consider always came with conditions that were either outside of my ability to give [which several Liberal sources have previously said included her guaranteed return to the party room], or were just not reasonable at the time.' Deeming was ultimately returned to the parliamentary Liberal Party in December in the weeks after she won the Federal Court case. Pesutto said another offer would have required him to accept all 67 defamatory imputations, the vast majority of which were found not to have been carried by the Federal Court. Loading He won't concede now that perhaps he should have accepted the offer. 'No one can predict what a court is going to do. So to be fair, you've got to always realise it's easy in hindsight to look back.' Pesutto knows he's made mistakes but says the opposition had to prioritise bread-and-butter issues and avoid distraction. 'Looking back, the events of March 2023 were early in my leadership off the back of three election losses,' Pesutto said. 'I acknowledge I could have done things different. There are a million different things I could have done. I know in fairness, you can say, 'well, hindsight is great'. But I do acknowledge I could have done things better and taken a different approach.' 'When I became leader, we'd just lost our third thumping election loss. Third. 'I've always believed that the party can only succeed if it represents the full diversity of Victorians. You can't win 45 seats or more to form a government without doing that. If you narrowcast your messaging – that explains why we've lost three elections. So we have to be broad-based. We have to be mainstream, and most importantly, we have to focus on those issues people are actually concerned about in their daily lives.' Loading He said Battin was continuing that work and shared this belief. 'The question you've always got to ask yourself is: 'Do I believe in the party's mission?' And for me, I do believe in the party's mission,' Pesutto said.
Sydney Morning Herald
19-05-2025
- Politics
- Sydney Morning Herald
‘No sugar-coating it': John Pesutto on his fight to survive bankruptcy
'I honestly don't know, and I kind of don't want to turn my mind to that. Because it's in my nature, and my ethos is just to give it everything and to try to avoid that scenario,' Pesutto said. 'I've had my ups and downs and fights and wins and losses over the years. But if I make it through this one, I think this would be the comeback of comebacks if I pull this off.' Pesutto has had no luck asking the Victorian Liberal Party to step in — 'they made it clear they weren't' — but has formally asked associated entity the Cormack Foundation, which has previously rejected informal approaches. Party sources do not expect the foundation to step in but Pesutto said he remained hopeful. 'I think people are now realising, 'okay, we have to decide: do we want to contribute to avoid a byelection, or do you want a byelection?',' Pesutto said. Opposition Leader Brad Battin — who overthrew Pesutto in the days after Christmas — refused to be drawn into the saga on Monday and would not say whether he'd make any donation to Pesutto's cause. 'I'm very clear,' Battin said. 'I'm keeping all my confidential conversations with my colleagues confidential.' Loading Defending Hawthorn could cost the Liberal Party upwards of $500,000. Losing the seat, held on a tight 1.7 per cent margin, would push the opposition further from its path to government. Deeming supporters sheet blame for a possible byelection on Pesutto, given the costs stem from his defamatory comments two years ago after she helped organise a Let Women Speak rally that was gatecrashed by neo-Nazis. Deeming has always denounced Nazism, and rejects that her cause is anti-trans. The Age contacted Deeming on Monday. Pesutto has been criticised within the party for allowing the action to get to court, but insists he did everything to settle. 'The idea that I didn't try to settle is nonsense. And I feel strongly about this ... The idea that I wouldn't want to settle that is preposterous.' Both parties exchanged offers and Pesutto said he was always willing to compromise. 'But every offer I was required to consider always came with conditions that were either outside of my ability to give [which several Liberal sources have previously said included her guaranteed return to the party room], or were just not reasonable at the time.' Deeming was ultimately returned to the parliamentary Liberal Party in December in the weeks after she won the Federal Court case. Pesutto said another offer would have required him to accept all 67 defamatory imputations, the vast majority of which were found not to have been carried by the Federal Court. Loading He won't concede now that perhaps he should have accepted the offer. 'No one can predict what a court is going to do. So to be fair, you've got to always realise it's easy in hindsight to look back.' Pesutto knows he's made mistakes but says the opposition had to prioritise bread-and-butter issues and avoid distraction. 'Looking back, the events of March 2023 were early in my leadership off the back of three election losses,' Pesutto said. 'I acknowledge I could have done things different. There are a million different things I could have done. I know in fairness, you can say, 'well, hindsight is great'. But I do acknowledge I could have done things better and taken a different approach.' 'When I became leader, we'd just lost our third thumping election loss. Third. 'I've always believed that the party can only succeed if it represents the full diversity of Victorians. You can't win 45 seats or more to form a government without doing that. If you narrowcast your messaging – that explains why we've lost three elections. So we have to be broad-based. We have to be mainstream, and most importantly, we have to focus on those issues people are actually concerned about in their daily lives.' Loading He said Battin was continuing that work and shared this belief. 'The question you've always got to ask yourself is: 'Do I believe in the party's mission?' And for me, I do believe in the party's mission,' Pesutto said.
Sunday World
07-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Sunday World
Father Ted creator Graham Linehan to rely on gender court ruling in legal battle against pub
The comedy writer is among a group of 23 plaintiffs suing the owners of Robinson's Bar over disputed allegations they were unlawfully refused service because of gender critical beliefs Writer Graham Linehan is perhaps best known for co-creating Father Ted (Kirsty O'Connor/PA) Father Ted creator Graham Linehan and other campaigners claiming discrimination against a Belfast pub are set to rely on a landmark ruling on the legal definition of a woman. The comedy writer is among a group of 23 plaintiffs suing the owners of Robinson's Bar over disputed allegations they were unlawfully refused service because of gender critical beliefs. At Belfast County Court today it was confirmed that eight lead cases will be dealt with in the first stage of the actions. Lawyers representing the group believe their case has been strengthened by last month's Supreme Court judgment that a woman is defined by biological sex. Speaking after the latest review, solicitor Simon Chambers said they were now keen to press on to a full hearing. 'My clients feel in light of the recent Supreme Court victory For Women Scotland that their legitimate and reasonably held belief that sex is immutable, that only biological women should be able to avail of women-only spaces has been legally endorsed, and that the so-called justification for their exclusion from the defendants' establishment should be shown up as the collective madness which prevailed at the time,' Mr Chambers stated. 'By taking a stand against this bankrupt ideology, my clients have been unjustly branded bigots and anti-trans, when all they were doing was highlighting its idiocy and standing up for the rights of women.' The group are claiming direct discrimination due to their views on gender in the lawsuit mounted against Wine Inns Ltd over incidents at Robinson's on April 16, 2023. Mr Linehan and other campaigners had just taken part in a Let Women Speak rally headed by controversial activist Kellie-Jay Keen. Following the demonstration they were said to have spent up to 90 minutes in the city centre bar. With some of them wearing clothing with logos in support of women's rights at the time, they contend that further service was then denied. One of the campaigners is also seeking £20,000 in damages, alleging that he was assaulted and left permanently scarred. Two others who say they witnessed what happened to him are claiming up to £8,000 compensation. Separate cases are also being advanced on behalf of the other 20 members of the group. All of them allege that they were discriminated against and refused service because of their beliefs. The eight lead cases have been proposed to represent the full spectrum of events, according to court papers. Mr Linehan is described as a prominent advocate of gender-critical beliefs who engaged with staff in the pub and other members of the group. 'Given his public profile, his inclusion also exemplifies the broader societal implications of such alleged conduct,' the legal documents contend. Feminist academic Dr Julia Long has been included as another test case to assess claims of discrimination based solely on the perception of her philosophical beliefs. Wine Inns strenuously denies any discrimination or less favourable treatment of the plaintiffs. The alleged assault on one of the campaigners is also denied, amid counter claims that his behaviour had created an apprehension among members of staff. A further part of the defence involves assertions that even if there was any difference in treatment, it had nothing to do with the group's political opinion.
The Age
26-04-2025
- Politics
- The Age
Violent clashes in Melbourne after protesters descend on women's rights rally
Officers held their lines at the intersection of Swanston and Collins streets and the protesters moved away unaccompanied, north along Swanston Street. As hundreds of people spilled from halted trams near the intersection, some passersby verbally confronted the protesters. Violence broke out again a short time later outside Melbourne Central when a woman began shouting at the demonstrators to move and stop blocking people 'trying to get home'. The woman put her bag down and approached some of the protesters, who threw water on her and a fight began. Others tried to stop the scuffle. Some witnesses clapped for the woman as she walked away, before she picked up her bag and swung it at the activists. Yarra Trams staff could be seen monitoring the scene and directing the movement of trams, but police were not present at that point. A group of young men followed the protesters to the State Library lawn, yelling 'f--- trans rights'. The two groups clashed, and the activists chased the men down Swanston Street and into a small alley. Victoria Police were contacted for comment on why the demonstration was allowed to continue without police intervention. Earlier, on the steps of parliament after the anti-trans rally, former Animal Justice Party MP Andy Meddick was involved in a physical scuffle. Loading Meddick, who was attending the pro-trans protest, got into a verbal altercation with a man after police had tried to disperse the crowd and moved to keep the two groups apart. But the members from both sides came into contact on Macarthur Street. The altercation descended into a struggle between the two men, and Meddick was pushed over. Meddick has two transgender children, Kielan and Eden. Melbourne's Women Will Speak rally is part of the global Let Women Speak movement, which argues that laws promoting trans inclusion have eroded sex-based rights and intruded unreasonably into women's spaces. It follows this month's UK Supreme Court ruling, which decreed that for the purposes of Britain's Equality Act, a woman is defined by her biological sex. Ahead of the event, Victoria Police enacted special search and arrest powers to deter neo-Nazis from gatecrashing the women's rights rally and planned counter-protest by trans activists. The parliamentary precinct became a designated area, meaning people could be searched for weapons, told to remove face coverings and arrested if they refused police direction to leave. Victoria Police said in a statement on Saturday afternoon that 38 searches had been conducted, both to remove prohibited face coverings and search for weapons, but no weapons were found. The designation search area was set to be active until 8pm on Saturday. This is the first time such police powers have been used to protect an event associated with the Let Women Speak movement, which has provoked confrontations between feminists and trans activists around the world, and two years ago in Melbourne, when far-right agitators performed a Nazi salute on the steps of state parliament. Liberal MP Bev McArthur was expected to speak but did not appear at the gathering, which was also attended by Victorian Libertarian MP David Limbrick. Counter-protesters attempted to drown out the speeches with chants, and blasted music by Kylie Minogue on a large sound system. Police searched pro-trans demonstrators using metal detectors as they approached the event.
