Victorian Liberal MP Moira Deeming will remain out of the country and miss a week of parliament due to an unforeseen medical situation, just days after telling the party she would cut short a trip in which she intended to attend a Jordan Peterson conference.
After Deeming was absent from question time in the upper house on Tuesday, a spokesperson for the opposition leader, Brad Battin, confirmed she remained overseas and was unable to travel home.
“Moira Deeming MP will not be able to return to Melbourne in time for the upcoming parliamentary sitting week due to an unforeseen medical situation,” the spokesperson said.
“Moira appreciates the community’s understanding and respect for her family’s privacy as they navigate this challenging situation.”
A Labor party source confirmed the party had been provided a medical certificate on Tuesday morning and agreed to a pair – an agreement to have one of their MPs not vote – to negate Deeming’s absence.
Deeming had planned to skip the sitting week to attend the Alliance for Responsible Citizenship, co-founded by conference Canadian psychologist and self-help author Jordan Peterson, but cancelled after public pressure from senior colleagues.
Her planned absence came just weeks after she returned to the Liberal party room after a successful leadership spill by Brad Battin.
On Friday, Deeming told Guardian Australia she would return early from her trip to the UK due to “distraction caused by uninformed and unfair characterisations of my leave entitlements”.
Deeming had been expelled by the then opposition leader, John Pesutto, in May 2023 after a rally she helped organise was gatecrashed by neo-Nazis. Deeming successfully sued Pesutto for defamation, which ultimately led to his demise as leader.
She said she booked the trip overseas during the defamation trial after deciding her family “had suffered enough and needed a break”.
“I arranged to provide the required medical certificates for leave from parliament and was willing to work for three days while on that trip by attending a conference relevant to my role as an MP,” Deeming said.
“Once I was readmitted to the Liberal party-room, I disclosed this to the leadership and due to my extenuating and unusual personal circumstances, I was kindly granted permission to go. I then arranged a pair to negate my absence.”
Deeming has been approached for comment.
