Former prime minister Jeff Kennett was judged to have been “reasonable” before a defamation trial by discussing settlement information with Victoria’s Liberal leader, who has acknowledged to doing the same.
As the defamation trial of exiled MP Moira Deeming against her former leader continued today in Melbourne’s Federal Court, John Pesutto was questioned for a second day as a witness.
She asserts that after she attended the March 2023 Let Women Speak event, Pesutto slandered her in interviews, news releases, and a press conference.
Neo-Nazis stormed the state parliament grounds and saluted the flag as they broke into the event.
His decision to expel Deeming from the parliamentary party was motivated by his belief in a “urgency to act to protect the party” and his desire to “sever any connection” between the Victorian Liberals and the rally, he informed the court today.
When asked if he thought of any alternative way to punish Deeming, Pesutto responded, “We believed expulsion was the appropriate course.”
Sue Chrysanthou SC, Deeming’s barrister, questioned Pesutto regarding stories in the media concerning settlement talks between the two of them.
She inquired as to whether Pesutto had discussed the trial and prior, fruitless settlement talks with the previous premier after showing him an article including quotations from Jeff Kennett.
“It was being put around, and briefed heavily, that I had been unreasonable in trying to resolve the matter,” according to him.
“Considering my position, I thought it was imperative. We are dealing with a very rare case. “I needed to assure people, as leader, that I hadn’t been unreasonable.”
Pesutto was interrogated on a fifteen-page dossier that he and his leadership team had compiled and sent to party members in an effort to have Deeming kicked out of the organization on his first day as a witness.
Chrysanthou emphatically refuted Pesutto’s claim that the dossier was created by an eight-year-old who had copied and pasted without providing any context during their heated argument.
Yesterday, Matthew Collins KC, Pesutto’s lawyer, said that Deeming’s relationship with an anti-trans demonstration and its organizers was to blame for the damage to her reputation. The trial has not ended.
