Embattled Victorian Liberal MP Moira Deeming has been formally disendorsed as the party’s candidate for the Western Metropolitan Region. The decision came after months of internal party warfare that pitted her against senior colleagues, dragged the party into the Supreme Court and threatened to overshadow its campaign just months before Victorians go to the polls in November.
The move, inactioned by the party’s state executive on Friday evening, caps a saga that began with a disputed physical altercation with former leader Matthew Guy in May and escalated into a legal standoff that Deeming only abandoned this week, clearing the way for her removal as a candidate for the November 28 election.
Party Executive Vote to End Deeming’s Candidacy
The party’s state executive met at its Collins Street headquarters on Friday evening and voted to strip Deeming of her endorsement, a move that required the backing of 75 per cent of its 19 members and had been widely expected once Deeming abandoned a last-minute Supreme Court bid to block the process.
The party voted to disendorse her as a candidate for the November election at a meeting on Friday evening, reaching the outcome at its Collins Street headquarters, which required support from 75 per cent of its 19 members.
Liberal leader Jess Wilson confirmed the decision shortly after the meeting, framing it as the close of a chapter that had consumed the party’s attention in the run-up to the election. “This matter is now concluded. My singular focus remains on the issues that matter to Victorians and outlining our plan to deliver a fresh start this November,” Wilson said in a statement.
Deeming, who sits in the upper house for the Western Metropolitan Region, will remain a party member but cannot recontest her seat for the Liberals at the November 28 election.
Guy ‘Headlock’ Saga and Defamation Cast Long Shadow Over Decision
The move brings to a head a dispute that began in May, when Deeming accused colleague and former party leader Matthew Guy of grabbing her “violently” in a headlock at a Macedonian community event, an allegation she later softened, saying she had misunderstood the term.
Vision obtained by AAP from the function showed Guy placing his hand on Deeming’s upper back as they leaned in to talk to one another.
Guy has strenuously denied any wrongdoing and had demanded a public apology from Deeming before the matter could be resolved. “Moira Deeming owes me a public apology. I’m owed an apology by the premier and the attorney-general,” he said in a statement outside parliament, adding, “They can come to me the honourable and easy way, or a harder way.”
Friday’s decision is only the latest chapter in Deeming’s turbulent relationship with the Liberal party room. She was suspended and later expelled from the parliamentary party in 2023 after then-leader John Pesutto moved against her over her attendance at a women’s rights rally, before being awarded $300,000 in damages after successfully suing Pesutto for defamation in the Federal Court in December 2024. She was subsequently readmitted to the party room.
Deeming Withdrew Legal Bid But Stood By Her Account
Deeming had attempted to head off the disendorsement vote by launching Supreme Court action against party president Brian Loughnane on July 3, which prompted the executive to give an undertaking that it would not move against her until the case was resolved.
The legal action sought to prevent the party from moving against her following the incident with Guy in May.
She dropped the challenge earlier this week after a one-day Supreme Court trial, instead sending the state executive a lengthy written submission laying out a proposed path forward.
On Wednesday, Deeming sent a 12-page statement to the party’s state executive, offering a mediation proposal that would allow her to end the court action. In her statement, she left the door open for the party to choose a different path. “The state executive, having all the evidence before them, can now decide whether to pursue mediation or reconvene to disendorse me,” she said.
Deeming also used the statement to explain her decision to walk away from the legal fight, saying the delay had given her space to gather herself after a difficult few weeks.
“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.
Deeming Vows to Keep Serving Western Metropolitan Constituents
Despite the outcome, Deeming maintained she had acted properly throughout the saga and pledged to keep working on behalf of her electorate. “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,” she said. “For my part, I will continue doing my work serving Victorians and fighting Labour.”
Liberals Seek Clear Air
Friday’s decision comes as the Liberals attempt to present a united front just months out from an election in which they are hoping to unseat a three-term Labour government while fending off a resurgent One Nation, which is yet to name a state leader. Tensions within the party have simmered since the crushing 2022 election defeat, spilling into the defamation lawsuit against former leader Pesutto, and the party will now hope Deeming’s exit allows it to shift attention back to its campaign pitch ahead of November.
