Victorian Liberal leader John Pesutto will move to expel an outspoken MP from the party over her involvement in an anti-trans rights rally attended by neo-Nazis.
The development came as the state government confirmed it would move to ban the Nazi salute in response to the weekend's events.
Moira Deeming spoke at the "Let Women Speak" event held by British anti-trans rights activist Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshull outside Victorian parliament on Saturday.
A group of neo-Nazis joined the anti-trans rights demonstrators and repeatedly performed the Nazi salute, sparking violent clashes as police kept counter protesters at bay.
Opposition Leader John Pesutto said he met Ms Deeming on Sunday afternoon and discussed her involvement in the rally.
Mr Pesutto confirmed he would move a motion at the next party room meeting to expel her as a member of the parliamentary Liberal Party, declaring her position "untenable".
"Moira Deeming not only attended this protest on the steps of parliament, but was actively involved in different ways in the organisation and promotion of this protest at which there were speakers with known links to neo-Nazis," he told ABC News Breakfast.
"I won't have any of it.
"These values that we saw on the steps of parliament were not consistent with the values I and the Liberal Party stand for.
"What I'm doing is a statement that we will not tolerate or ever accept any association with neo-Nazis and white supremacists or anybody who sympathises with them."
Mr Pesutto said his party would support any move by the government to outlaw the Nazi salute.
"We're very open to this. We'll work constructively with the government, as we have in the past, as with the banning of the swastika," he said.
"We support free speech but every sensible and reasonable person must know there are limits on free speech.
"People who engage in actions and gestures which inspire hate and violence will never be acceptable in our state."
Government to consult on salute ban
Attorney-General Jaclyn Symes said this morning that the government would introduce legislation to ban the Nazi salute. The use of the Hakenkreuz, or swastika, is already illegal.
"The behaviour we saw on the weekend was disgraceful and cowardly," she said.
"It's clear this symbol is being used to incite hatred not just towards Jewish people, but our LGBTIQ+ community and other minority groups.
"Victorians have zero tolerance of this behaviour and so do we. That's why we'll expand our nation-leading legislation banning the Nazi Hakenkreuz to include the Nazi salute — because everyone deserves to feel safe, welcome and included in Victoria.
"We'll look at how this can be done carefully, with considered consultation with a variety of groups, and will have more to say on the details of this legislation as we undertake that."
The government's move was welcomed by the Police Association secretary Wayne Gatt, who said officers were "largely under-equipped under legislation" to deal with such displays.
"I read messages over the weekend from my members who were at that demonstration who said to me, 'We were utterly sickened by the behaviour of that group,'" he said.
"To be honest, we felt ashamed that we weren't able to do something more. We wanted to but we can't."
Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews had earlier on Sunday also condemned the actions of those demonstrators.
In a post on social media, Ms Deeming said she was disappointed with Victoria Police for letting masked men into the rally buffer zone, "terrifying women who were just trying to speak about their rights".
"Police managed to stop hordes of [trans rights activists], but somehow could only walk masked men past us [as] they did a horrible Nazi salute," she said on Twitter.
The former teacher and City of Melton councillor was elected to the Victorian parliament last year as a member for Western Metropolitan region, replacing controversial MP Bernie Finn after he was expelled from the party over his abortion views.
She used her inaugural speech last month to call for an inquiry into transition practices and criticised measures to include trans women in female-only change rooms and sports.
ABC/AAP
