The defamation showdown between expelled Liberal MP Moira Deeming and Victorian Opposition Leader John Pesutto has drawn to a close, with a decision due before the end of 2024.
Lawyers for the politicians finished closing submissions after a three-and-a-half week trial in Melbourne's Federal Court on Thursday, with Mr Pesutto's leadership of the party expected to hinge on the outcome.
Mrs Deeming launched action over statements Mr Pesutto made in a media release, interviews and press conference following a Let Women Speak rally on the steps of state parliament in March 2023, which was gatecrashed by men who performed the Nazi salute.
The now-independent MP previously told the court the men in black who displayed the gesture had nothing to do with her rally and she didn't see it happen until the group was escorted away by police.
On Thursday, Mr Pesutto's barrister Matt Collins KC said his client reasonably believed the publications, which detailed why he was moving to expel her from the party following the rally, reflected his honestly held views and it was in the public interest to reveal the decision.
A day earlier, Mrs Deeming's barrister Sue Chrysanthou SC said her case theory was that Mrs Deeming was expelled as Mr Pesutto found it "annoying to have to answer press questions about her whenever she made a statement about sex-based rights".
Mr Collins hit back, describing that as "just a lie, it's just not true".
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".
On the final day of submissions, Ms Chrysanthou told the court Mr Pesutto had deliberately used the words like "associate" or "associations" with a broad range of meanings in the comments at the heart of the case.
"We have done our best with the sometimes garbled words of Mr Pesutto throughout these publications," the barrister said.
Mrs Deeming was initially suspended from the Liberals in March 2023 then expelled two months later.
Mr Pesutto stared down a possible leadership coup earlier In October, with rumblings attributed to the defamation case.
Justice David O'Callaghan reserved his judgment, indicating it would be delivered by the end of the year.
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