Callum Godde, AAP
Expelled Victorian Liberal MP and former Melton Councillor Moira Deeming’s defamation action against Opposition Leader John Pesutto will hit court but both are set to be no-shows.
A first case management hearing has been scheduled in the Federal Court for Friday morning after the pair were unable to broker an end to their long-running feud.
Mrs Deeming and Mr Pesutto are not expected to attend the preliminary hearing before Justice Michael Wheelahan.
“I’ve got a job to do as opposition leader and alternative premier,” Mr Pesutto told reporters on Thursday.
“I’m not concerned about anything that might be happening tomorrow.”
Mrs Deeming is being represented by lawyer Patrick George, who helped former Australian Olympic Committee boss John Coates sue shock jock Alan Jones and has advised former prime ministers Paul Keating and Kevin Rudd.
Mr Pesutto is being represented Minter Ellison partner Peter Bartlett and Matt Collins KC, who acted for Network 10 in its high-profile defamation trial with former Liberal staffer Bruce Lehrmann.
His lawyers filed an official defence on Monday.
Neither that document nor Mrs Deeming’s statement or claim have been released by the court.
Mrs Deeming was expelled from the parliamentary Liberal Party after she took part in a rally in March that was gatecrashed by a group of masked men who performed Nazi salutes.
She issued several defamation concerns notices to Mr Pesutto, alleging he publicly accused her of being a Nazi sympathiser and used the claim to bully and threaten her with expulsion.
Mr Pesutto denies he accused the now-independent Western Metro MP of being a Nazi or having Nazi sympathies.
Attempted mediation failed after Mrs Deeming sought an exoneration from Mr Pesutto, financial restoration and her return to the party room.
Mr Pesutto confirmed the pair reached a “tentative settlement” but it broke down over her demand to return to the parliamentary party without any strings attached.
