A $1.5 million loan has been granted to former Victorian Liberal leader John Pesutto, with the fractured party desperate to draw a line under a long-running defamation saga.
The Victorian Liberals' administrative committee met on Thursday night and agreed to lend former leader John Pesutto $1.55 million to settle his debt to first-term MP Moira Deeming.
The cash is separate from campaign money and not drawn from taxpayer funds.
The Hawthorn MP was ordered to pay $2.3 million in legal costs to Deeming after the Federal Court found he defamed her by implying she was associated with neo-Nazis.
It left him facing bankruptcy, which would have triggered his exit from parliament and a subsequent by-election in his marginal seat, unless the debt was repaid within a matter of weeks.
Pesutto, who has already coughed up $315,000 in damages, had only raised about $750,000 through wealthy backers and a GoFundMe campaign.
Liberal MP Moira Deeming was found to have been defamed by former Victorian Liberal leader John Pesutto last year. Source: AAP / Joel Carrett
In a letter to party members late on Thursday, Victorian Liberal president Philip Davis said the money would be paid directly to Deeming.
Pesutto will be required to repay the loan at market-rate interest.
Davis said the deal would avert a by-election and allow the Liberals' parliamentary party to focus on the issues that matter to the Victorian community.
Entering parliament on Thursday morning, Pesutto was upbeat about the committee agreeing to his loan request.
"Tonight's an opportunity to square [the issue] off and put it all behind us," he said.
Deeming sceptical of détente
Deeming, who was expelled from the party room before being welcomed back in December, was sceptical it would end the infighting that has engulfed the party since March 2023.
"I assume that they will continue with their quest to try to annihilate me," she said.
Deeming said the party could "do what they like" but she would take any support of Pesutto as a "direct rebukement (sic)" of the court judgment.
In social media posts made following news of the bailout, Deeming wrote: "They failed to protect her when she was attacked .... They punished her for defending herself ... this is what institutional abuse looks like."
'We've put the line in the sand'
Victorian Opposition leader Brad Battin was among those who voted to support the deal.
"We've actually put the line in the sand on that and now we really have to focus on moving forward," Battin told ABC Radio Melbourne on Friday.
Battin urged his fellow MPs to stop the infighting to present a credible alternative to the Victorian Labor government, in power for all but four years since 1999.
Following news of former Victorian Liberal leader John Pesutto's bailout, current leader Brad Battin said: "I really believe now is our opportunity to ensure each and every one of my members has a think about what they've wanted to get into parliament for, and it wasn't to be in opposition," he said. Source: AAP / Diego Fedele
Time is running out for Battin to unite the Liberals before the next state election in November 2026.
