Exiled Liberal MP Moira Deeming says commentary by keyboard warriors labelling her a Nazi or fascist did little to deter her from attending a transgender-critical women’s rights rally.
Deeming returned to the witness box today for the third day of her defamation trial against Victorian Opposition Leader John Pesutto over comments he made about her attending the rally in March 2023 outside state parliament.
She was again questioned by Pesutto’s barrister Matthew Collins KC over her involvement in the organisation of the Let Women Speak rally and potential links to neo-Nazi groups.
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Deeming acknowledged receiving numerous critical comments following her tweet promoting the event that questioned her rubbing shoulders with “brownshirts”, another term for Nazis or fascists.
But she viewed the derogatory comments as attempts to provoke her rather than genuine concerns about her association with rally attendees.
Footage of the rally, which included a line of black-clad men repeatedly performing Nazi salutes on parliament steps, and numerous tweets about the event were shown to the court.
Deeming said she had “never seen that footage” of the Nazi salutes and questioned why the group wasn’t arrested by police.
“I hadn’t seen that before, that just proves they aren’t with us,” Deeming said today.
Following the rally, she received a text message from deputy Liberal leader David Southwick stating she needed to denounce the attendance of the neo-Nazis.
But Deeming said she wasn’t equipped to send out a press statement on her own, because she was new to parliament and thought something like that would need to be approved by the party.
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Instead, she made a statement on social media.
Earlier, Justice David O’Callaghan opened the hearing by refusing Deeming’s application to subpoena Southwick for communications or recordings.
The application followed a secret recording of a Liberal leadership meeting in March 2023, played to the court on Tuesday.
Deeming said despite her involvement, she tried to avoid being a divisive member of the Liberal Party after she was shocked by an internal fallout over duck hunting.
“I’d never seen anything like that with adults,” she told the Federal Court hearing of a fiery exchange within the party room.
As a result, she asked Pesutto to help her advocate on women’s rights without creating a similar situation.
She said the “very warm” Pesutto told her “it shows me you won’t be that kind of person”.
Deeming said she wanted to meet Pesutto for more advice about the rally, but that never eventuated.
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Collins suggested Deeming failed to tell Pesutto of her full involvement in the rally because she knew it would be controversial.
“I knew it was controversial. I’m not denying any of those things,” Deeming told the court.
“I just considered that I had consulted with my leader and he knew what I was doing.”
When asked if she thought the rally could become violent, Deeming said threats from counter protesters made her “more determined to be brave”.
Deeming will continue to be questioned tomorrow.
High-profile Liberals are set to give evidence over the three-week trial including federal Senator Sarah Henderson, Southwick and former MP Matt Bach, who now lives in the UK.
Pesutto has denied wrongdoing.
Deeming has been an independent MP since she was expelled from the Liberal Party.
Pesutto previously reached settlements with anti-trans rights activist Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshull and Angela Jones, issuing both a public apology over their involvement in the rally.
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