In the latest instalment of a saga engulfing the Victorian Liberal party, the suspended MP Moira Deeming has put out a statement declaring that she “never once considered suing the Liberal party”.
That claim comes days after she emailed MPs saying she had advised her lawyers to prepare a legal challenge to her suspension.
It emerged on Saturday that Deeming is facing a fresh move to expel her from the party entirely.
She attended an anti-transgender rally in March that was gatecrashed by neo-Nazis, who performed a Nazi salute.
The Victorian Liberal leader, John Pesutto, wanted her expelled at the time, but at a 27 March meeting the party instead voted to suspend her for nine months. Now five MPs have given Pesutto a notice of motion seeking her expulsion, which will go to the party room next Friday.
Deeming said she agreed to the initial suspension in exchange for a joint statement from her and the leadership exonerating her from “false allegations”.
On Thursday, Deeming said that if Pesutto did not meet a 2pm deadline to declare she was not a Nazi sympathiser, she would “instruct [her] lawyers to commence legal proceedings”.
Pesutto did not meet that deadline.
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Later that day, Deeming emailed the party saying she had advised her lawyers to “prepare a legal challenge” over her suspension and that a “dossier of evidence” against her was just social media posts and an “irreputable” Wikipedia page that did not even mention her.
“I am now in a position where continued silence is damaging my name reputation, my family and my mental health,” she wrote.
“Given that the leadership did not make the statement of exoneration, or confirm my return, and that no mediation or even any minutes exist to settle this dispute, I have advised my lawyers to prepare a legal challenge over my suspension.”
Pesutto has said that exoneration “will not be happening”.
On Saturday, Deeming seemingly contradicted her threat to tell her lawyers to start legal proceedings, and said that any reports she planned to sue the party “are false”, and that she was only contemplating legal assistance such as mediation.
“All I have ever wanted, since the leader’s failed attempt to have me expelled for allegedly bringing the party into disrepute, was to have my name cleared,” she said.
“I have never once considered suing the Liberal party and reports that I have, or had planned to do so, are false.”
“It is important to clarify here that I only contemplated legal assistance (eg mediation) as a way of helping me negotiate to settle the conditions of my suspension and to see what was agreed in the party room in March honoured.”
She said meeting minutes showed that the original expulsion motion was not formally put to the party room, which she said was a “full, official, written, public exoneration”.
“The past six weeks have taken a terrible toll on me personally,” she said in Saturday’s statement.
“I have had to publicly disclose childhood sexual abuse and endure constant media attacks while remaining silent.
“At all times I have tried to work through internal processes to resolve these issues and declined to air public criticism of the Liberal party.
“Now, I am moving on.”
Amid warnings from the federal opposition leader, Peter Dutton, of an intervention into the Victorian party, seven state Liberal MPs told Guardian Australia they were willing to put forward the motion to expel Deeming.
Guardian Australia has confirmed the five MPs who have moved the expulsion motion are Roma Britnell, former leader Matthew Guy, Wayne Farnham, Cindy McLeish and James Newbury.
– with Benita Kolovos
