In a letter sent to rank-and-file Liberal members on Friday, state president Greg Mirabella hosed down speculation about Ms Deeming being expelled from the wider party, and wrote to members that 'winning elections is a team sport'. Moira Deeming taking part in a rally on a Saturday in mid-March sparked the crisis. He said the talk of legal action, which was first raised a week ago, was a 'catalyst' for five MPs to raise a motion to expel Ms Deeming. 'I know for many members that the idea of a member of the party taking legal action against the leader was crossing a Rubicon that was not really open,' he told ABC Radio Melbourne. Those tensions came to a head in recent days as the exiled MP flagged taking legal action against Mr Pesutto on defamation grounds.Īfter Friday's decision, Mr Pesutto said for those who voted in favour of Ms Deeming's expulsion, the threat of legal action was key. She has since called on Mr Pesutto to publicly state she was not associated with the neo-Nazis, but the opposition leader has repeatedly said no retraction was necessary. Partyroom tensions have been bubbling away for weeks since Ms Deeming was suspended from the party room for nine months after taking part in an anti-trans-rights rally on a Saturday in mid-March.Īs the rally unfolded on the steps of Victoria's parliament, neo-Nazis gatecrashed the event - a development Ms Deeming denounced and distanced herself from amid the fallout. Mr Pesutto described the day's events as a 'strong turning point' for the Victorian Liberals. The 30-strong party room voted 19 to 11 to oust Ms Deeming on Friday, and to demote another MP, Renee Heath, from her position as party room secretary.

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