Victorian Opposition Leader John Pesutto has confirmed he will support a second motion to expel controversial MP Moira Deeming from the parliamentary Liberal Party.
Ms Deeming was suspended from the party room in late March after attending an anti-trans rights rally organised by people Mr Pesutto said had ties to neo-Nazis.
The nine-month suspension was a softening of the initial motion to kick her out of the parliamentary party.
The events of that closed meeting are again in focus more than a month later, with internal tensions spilling into the media and public.
Anonymous sources alleged in the Herald Sun newspaper on Thursday that Mr Pesutto bullied rookie MP Renee Heath over taking party-room minutes from the meeting. The leader's allies in turn accused "three or four terrorists" inside the party of "holding the Liberal Party hostage".
Ms Deeming that day released a letter claiming Mr Pesutto agreed at the March meeting to make a statement to "exonerate" her from "false allegations" regarding the rally's association with Nazis.
"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, because I believe that we need to come together as colleagues and have a do-over meeting," the letter said.
The letter infuriated some Liberal MPs who are frustrated with the focus on internal party matters instead of policy and the cost of living.
On Saturday, Ms Deeming releasing a statement on social media saying she had only "contemplated" legal assistance in the form of mediation to help her negotiate the suspension.
"I have never once considered suing the Liberal Party and reports that I have, or have planned to do so, are false," she said.
Hours later, Mr Pesutto said five members of his party room had submitted a motion seeking Ms Deeming's expulsion at a party room meeting on Friday, May 12. Ms Deeming will be able to attend and argue her case.
Mr Pesutto confirmed on Sunday that the five MPs who moved the expulsion motion were Matthew Guy, James Newbury, Cindy McLeish, Roma Britnell and Wayne Farnham.
'I think what those five members of the party room have done reflects the concerns that many in the party room, including myself, share about needing to resolve this," he said.
The motion relates just to Ms Deeming's potential expulsion, and not to the sanction of three of her allies as was touted during the week.
Asked to clarify whether a legal threat was made by Ms Deeming, Mr Pesutto said "there were two threats made on Thursday of last week".
Federal Liberal Leader Peter Dutton last week flagged a possible federal intervention in the state branch.
Mr Pesutto said there was "growing concern in the organisation" that it was now the second expulsion motion for Ms Deeming and that he expected "there to be some organisational response to that".
Mr Pesutto would not be drawn on Ms Deeming's statement posted to Twitter on Saturday, saying it was now a matter which would be heard during debate ahead of Friday's vote.
The saga has been a test of Mr Pesutto's new role as opposition leader, a position he took on after the Liberals' crushing state election defeat in November.
Speaking at a press conference in Greenvale about the upcoming state budget with local residents, Mr Pesutto again spent much of his time answering questions about the internal party ructions.
He downplayed the divisions, saying he could feel "a growing sense of unity" despite a "small group determined to thwart" the process of reforming the party.
"I'm a new leader and I know I have the overwhelming support of the Liberal Party room to reform our party. One, to give Victorians a better opposition, and two, to give them the better government they deserve in 2026," he said.
