Victorian Liberals spare John Pesutto from bankruptcy with $1.55 million loan
The Victorian Liberal Party has come to the financial rescue of its axed leader to spare him from bankruptcy and avoid a politically dangerous by-election. The state party's administrative committee met on Thursday night and agreed to lend former leader John Pesutto $1.55 million to settle his debt to first-term Liberal MP Moira Deeming. The party will pay the money directly to Deeming and Pesutto will be required to repay the loan at market-rate interest. In a letter to party members, Victorian Liberal president Philip Davis said the outcome would ensure there was no by-election in Pesutto's marginal seat of Hawthorn. Pesutto was ordered to pay $2.3 million in legal costs to Deeming after the Federal Court found he defamed her by implying she was associated with neo-Nazis. Pesutto, who has already coughed up $315,000 in damages, had raised only about $750,000 through wealthy backers and a GoFundMe campaign. An offer to defer some of the legal bill in exchange for Deeming's guaranteed pre-selection and Pesutto swearing off trying to return as leader for three years was rebuffed. Deeming, who was expelled from the party room before being welcomed back in December, was sceptical it would end the infighting that has engulfed the party since March 2023. "I assume that they will continue with their quest to try to annihilate me," the upper house MP said on Thursday morning. Deeming said the party can "do what they like" but she would take any support of Pesutto as a "direct rebukement (sic)" of the court judgement. State Opposition leader Brad Battin has not escaped internal criticism of his handling of the saga despite inheriting it when he replaced Pesutto as leader in December. He attended the meeting but would not reveal how he intended to vote.
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