Arabic version: الحزب الليبرالي يسحب تأييده لمويرا ديمينغ كمرشحة

The Victorian Liberal Party state executive will vote to remove upper house MP Moira Deeming as a candidate for the November election after she withdrew a Supreme Court action this week.

According to ABC News, Mrs Deeming had sought to restrain the party from moving against her after she failed to apologise to her party room colleague Matthew Guy. She had alleged he assaulted her; Mr Guy has denied the allegation and police said no offence was detected after reviewing CCTV of the interaction. Mrs Deeming had been due to have a one-day trial this week but announced she was ending the action.

The dispute is entwined with a financial dispute over legal costs. Mrs Deeming has sought withdrawal of $1.55 million owed to her following a Federal Court ruling in her favour, funds that are currently held in a trust account while a Liberal Party loan to former leader John Pesutto remains before the Supreme Court. The Liberal Party agreed last year to loan Mr Pesutto $1.55 million so he could pay her fees and avoid bankruptcy; the Federal Court had ordered Mr Pesutto to pay $2.3 million of her legal costs after finding he had falsely implied she associated with neo-Nazis.

Sources told the ABC that NSW property developer Hilton Grugeon, who bankrolled Mrs Deeming’s defamation case, has requested repayment of the money and continues to support her. The breakaway group of Liberal leaders challenging the party loan has sought an injunction to stop the cash being released; that legal challenge will be heard this month. Lawyers for Mr Grugeon have issued a request for repayment and sources said the letter could be the beginning of bankruptcy proceedings against Mrs Deeming.

This story matters because it has created significant internal strife within the opposition and carries financial and political consequences: the loan prevented a potential bankruptcy and by-election for Mr Pesutto, the litigation challenges the party’s handling of that loan, and the infighting has been described in the source as a major distraction while the party is campaigning across all 88 seats in Victoria.

What happens next: the state executive will meet at 5.30pm on Friday to vote on disendorsement, with three-quarters of members required to revoke her preselection and an injunction over the loan to be heard later this month.

Related sections: Australia/استراليا | Australian Capital Territory | Victoria | New South Wales