On multiple occasions
Ousted Victorian Liberal MP Moira Deeming says she expects to rejoin the party room after winning her defamation case against Opposition Leader John Pesutto.
Ms Deeming brought the lawsuit against Mr Pesutto, alleging he had defamed her as a Nazi sympathiser in the wake of an anti-trans-rights rally on the steps of Victorian parliament last year that was gatecrashed by neo-Nazis.
In the aftermath of the rally, Mr Pesutto failed in a bid to have Ms Deeming booted from the parliamentary Liberal Party — she was instead suspended for nine months.
…
On Thursday, Federal Court judge David O’Callaghan ruled Mr Pesutto had defamed Ms Deeming on multiple occasions, including in radio and TV interviews which “caused or is likely to cause serious harm to her reputation”.
“The imputation found to be conveyed is that Mrs Deeming associates with Nazis and is thus unfit to be a member of the parliamentary Liberal Party,” Justice O’Callaghan said of an interview Mr Pesutto did with radio station 3AW in the wake of the rally last year.
“With respect to the ABC interview, the imputation found to be conveyed is that Mrs Deeming knowingly associates or sympathises with Neo Nazis and white supremacists, and is thus unfit to be a member of the parliamentary Liberal Party and Liberal Party.”
She was awarded 300 k for non-economic losses; compensation for economic losses is still being worked out.
Onward!
Pesutto should resign, and in times past would absolutely have done so. Reading the article, he is of course vowing to stay on and fight and still wants Deeming excluded from the party caucus. Since it’s now legal fact that she is not a nazi or a nazi sympathiser, presumably the reason for excluding her is because she dared stand up to him. While he has his supporters, so does Deeming. It will be interesting to see which way the party jumps and what their voters make of it in the next election.
More than anything else I still don’t understand the actions of the police on the day of the demonstration. Ushering a group of nazis into the protected area without consulting the group already present there, and against their wishes, was mind boggling, and created the very fertile ground for all this and many negative press articles. Gross incompetence or a willful decision? I don’t see any middle ground.
More press obfuscating. It was not an anti-trans-rights rally. It was a pro-woman rally, fighting against privileges, not rights, being accorded trans. When will the press learn it is not a right to be seen by everyone the way you see yourself? To be affirmed in your delusions? To intrude on the personal space of other people, people much more vulnerable than you are (people formerly known as women)?
Rob, at the time there was speculation that at least one of the neo-nazis was related to a high-ranking police officer, and that there are plenty of nazi sympathisers in the force. I never bothered to follow up the allegations, though.
iknklast, the vast bulk of Australian media and all of NZ media (such as is left of it) are firmly in the trans activist camp. They’ll occasionally grudgingly quote the GC side while making it really clear that those are the bad guys, but provide an endless stream of laudatory articles about how wonderful trans is and how trans rights are human rights. Articles about GC events are always negative. Following on from KJKs visit to NZ someone lodged a complaint with the media regulatory body complaining of lack of balance (which was obvious and extreme). The decision agreed that there was a lack of balance, but did not uphold the complaint because they said ‘balance can be achieved over time.’ The crickets are still chirping on that one. It was a gutless and terrible decision, but there is no appeal.
Thanks Tigger. After a wee google Nathan Bull was at the rally and his fa there is a cop in Victoria.
https://www.news.com.au/national/victoria/activists-expose-disturbing-past-of-young-aussie-neonazi/news-story/6b2a537ff2b974f4ddfc4e5a0e26d5d9
And then more recently there’s this…
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-10-12/police-sergeant-nazi-salute-suspended-melbourne/104465110
This is someone responsible for training police recruits, who felt comfortable enough to make a banned salute while on duty in front of colleagues and recruits. That doesn’t say anything good about culture.
Rob, you beat me to it, but I’ll also add – notice the wristbands worn by the Black Pampers? That’s the contact details of the cop who’ll get you out post haste.
Still, it’s great to see her win. Perhaps even better, given the apparent general attitude there. Reality seems to be beneath contempt in certain circles, doesn’t it?
Oh, and I never managed to get to Melbourne, and was only in Victoria while passing through on the way from Adelaide when we moved to Canberra. I’ve heard that Melbourne is a lovely city; although mainly from people who used to live there, but had moved elsewhere. Make of that what you will!