Expelled Liberal MP Moira Deeming was booted from the party because the Victorian opposition leader was sick of answering "annoying" questions about her views, her lawyer claims.
Mrs Deeming's barrister Sue Chrysanthou SC claimed Liberal Leader John Pesutto used the pretext of Nazis gatecrashing a March 2023 Let Women Speak rally on the steps of state parliament in a scheme to get rid of her.
"Our case theory is that Mrs Deeming was expelled because Mr Pesutto found it annoying to have to answer press questions about her whenever she made a statement about sex-based rights," the barrister told the Federal Court in Melbourne on Wednesday.
Mrs Deeming is suing Mr Pesutto for defamation over comments he made about her following the rally.
She previously told the court that the men in black who performed the Nazi salute had nothing to do with her demonstration and she didn't see the gesture until the group were escorted away by police.
The mother-of-four says she supports "sex-based rights" and earlier in the case was heard saying on a tape she does not hold "homophobic or transphobic views".
Her barrister alleged Mr Pesutto used the appearance of Nazis as a "pretext to just get rid of her", claiming he was concerned her statements on sex-based rights would distract from his political agenda.
However, Mr Pesutto's barrister Matt Collins KC said allegations about the motivation behind efforts to expel her were false and had "nothing to do with Mrs Deeming's views".
He said the issue central to the case is the Liberal leader's public statements, not his state of mind, and the publications raised in court do include an explanation of why she was being expelled from the party - being that her position was untenable.
"Mr Pesutto on many occasions said 'I don't consider Mrs Deeming to be a Nazi or a Nazi sympathiser'," Dr Collins said.
The barrister described the Let Women Speak rally as an "anti-trans rally" and claimed a statement shouted to counter-protesters was "offensive".
Almost every mainstream media publication had drawn attention to the presence of the Nazis on the steps of parliament "well before Mr Pesutto entered the fray", he said.
"The rally was an anti-trans rally, all of the media reported it that way and they were 100 per cent right," Dr Collins said.
Mrs Deeming has been an independent MP since she was suspended then expelled from the Liberal Party in May 2023.
Earlier in October, Mr Pesutto stared down a possible leadership coup with rumblings largely attributed to the defamation case.
The verdict is expected to be handed down before the end of 2024.
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