Court finds Victorian Liberal leader defamed then party-room colleague when referring to rally gatecrashed by far right

A defiant John Pesutto says he won’t resign as Victoria’s opposition leader after a damning court judgment found he defamed ousted Liberal MP Moira Deeming and will need to pay her $300,000 in damages.

Federal court justice David O’Callaghan on Thursday found Pesutto defamed Deeming on five separate occasions after the Let Women Speak rally she helped organise on 18 March 2023, which was gatecrashed by neo-Nazis.

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