Victorian Liberal MP Moira Deeming has dropped her legal action against the party, withdrawing a Supreme Court challenge as she makes a final appeal to avoid being disendorsed before the November state election.
Legal challenge withdrawn
Deeming launched an 11th-hour Supreme Court challenge against Victorian Liberal party president Brian Loughnane on 3 July, after she made an assault allegation against former leader Matthew Guy and refused to apologise. Victoria Police reviewed CCTV footage and determined “there was no offence detected”.
Late on Wednesday, Deeming announced she had withdrawn the case. “The injunction has achieved exactly what it intended to achieve,” she wrote in a statement posted to social media.
Mediation proposal
Deeming sent a 12-page statement to the party’s state executive, outlining a mediation proposal that allowed her to end the court action. “The state executive, having all the evidence before them, can now decide whether to pursue mediation or reconvene to disendorse me,” she said.
“From beginning to end, I progressed the issue in good faith, respected the confidentiality of all involved, submitted myself to the instructions and policies of the party and obeyed the law rather than run it through the media. For my part, I will continue doing my work serving Victorians and fighting Labor.”
Background of the allegation
CCTV footage from a function in May showed Guy placing his hand on Deeming’s upper back as they leaned in to talk. Police reviewed the footage and concluded no offence was committed. Deeming had accused Guy of grabbing her “violently” in a headlock but later clarified she misunderstood the term. “Having been overseas and unwell when the story broke and jetlagged and unwell when the disendorsement meeting was called, the injunction gave me time to recover, review all the facts, learn the difference between a headlock and a collar-tie grip, and gather my thoughts,” she said.
Guy told reporters in June that Deeming owed him a public apology, vehemently denying any wrongdoing. “Moira Deeming owes me a public apology. I’m owed an apology by the premier and the attorney general,” he said outside parliament. “They can come to me the honourable and easy way, or a harder way.”
Party reaction
Liberal leader Jess Wilson declined to comment on Deeming’s future on Wednesday, noting the matter was “before the courts”. The party’s state executive now faces a decision on whether to accept mediation or proceed with disendorsement.
