From the Australian. Here's what's on the front. I'm Christinamio. It's Friday, December thirteenth. A long awaited interest rate cut could be threatened by bumper new employment data. Unemployment dropped to three point nine percent in November, according to new data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics, and it's taken economists by surprise. You can read our experts analysis of those new figures right now the Australian dot com dot au.
The political future of Victorian Liberal Party leader John Persuto is up in the air after a judge ruled he defamed independent MP MOI Redeeming. Persuto has defied calls by members of his own party to step down.
So can he write it out?
That's today's story, obviously.
I am just so delighted with today's result and I'm very grateful to the court for their prom consideration.
This is the ousted Liberal Party MP more Redeeming outside the Federal Court in Melbourne on Thursday.
I just want to say thank you to everybody who stood by with me and yeah, we're just going to get out there and continue to get sex based rights for women and child safeguards.
For children, Thank you.
Deming was in high spirits because she'd just got a big win.
Victorian Opposition leader John Persudo's leadership is under immense pressure from his colleagues after he lost a landmark defamation case. There are calls to allow exiled MP More Redeeming back into the party room.
My Redeeming suit the Victorian Liberal Party leader for defamation over allegations he falsely portrayed her as a Nazi sympathizer.
One Liberal Party MP described today as a very ugly day for John Persudo, and I think that's an understatement.
Johnston is The Australian's Victorian editor, and.
It's an understatement because the defamation ruling from Judge David o' callahan of the Federal Court was quite devastating.
For John Persuto.
It's not so much the money, although it's a lot of money three hundred thousand dollars plus potentially a seven figure legal bill that he will now have to cough up, but it's what it does to his reputation and even more importantly, not so much with the public, but with his Liberal Party colleagues.
This legal saga started in early twenty twenty three. My Redeeming, who was then a member of the Victorian Liberal Party, helped organize a rally with women's rights activist Kelly J. Keen Minchell, who also goes by the name Posey Parker. The British activist believes the push for trans rights is eroding womanhood, a position that aligns closely with Deming's own concerns.
We don't need to be on the far side of anything, but we will not lie and we will not let you lie about children.
The rally was crashed by members of a neo Nazi group who performed a salute and waived a banner declaring destroy pedo Freaks. Deeming tweeted at the time that she was terrified by the experience and expressed her disappointment at the inability of police to get the situation under control. Within a day, her Liberal Party boss, John Pizzuto issued a press release signaling his intention to boot Deeming from
the party over the incident. Then he doubled down in interviews with Melbourne's three AW radio station and the ABC, saying Moira Deeming's alleged Nazi associations made her unfit to be a member of the parliamentary Liberal party, Deeming was suspended and then expelled, rebranding herself as an India Pendent Liberal in the fallout, an all.
Too familiar walk to the party room for Liberal MPs many tight lip as they shuffled in for More Deemings political execution.
It'll get sorted out today and we can all move forward.
Forward, forward, forward, forward, forward, forward.
For fast forward to this year, when More Redeeming sued John Pezuto for defamation on five grounds. She claimed suggestions by the Victorian Liberal leader that she associates with neo Nazis and known white supremacists caused her serious harm, and on Monday, Federal Court Judge David O'Callahan agreed, finding John Pezuto defamed More Redeeming in various communications and appearances in the days and weeks following the Let Women Speak rally. It took the judge just a few minutes to deliver
his verdict. These are his actual words from court.
This is Deeming pleaded numerous diffameatory imputations in respect of each of those five impugned publication. I have found that the following defamatory imputations were conveyed.
O'Callahan also rejected the defense mounted by John Pezuto in court, saying the Liberal Party leader demonstrated an inability or refusal to give a simple answer to simple enough questions when giving evidence, But the judge didn't say Perzuto had been dishonest.
The barrister representing Pezuto in the proceedings, Matthew Collins Casey, argued, MOI redeeming breached her obligation to demonstrate to victorians that the Liberal Party was united, inclusive and deserving of being elected to government, and he said she should have known what she was getting into a voice actor is reading the words spoken by Matthew Collins in court.
A member of a mainstream political party which aspires to government, a member of that party has no business in organizing rallies to the extent that Missus Deeming did without having done basic research which would have uncovered just how toxic these associations would prove to be.
Judge David O'Callahan awarded more redeeming three hundred thousand dollars for non economic loss, but declined to award aggravated damages. A hearing for final orders, including the calculation of legal costs, is likely to happen in the next few days.
Coming up?
What now for the Victorian Liberal Party?
On Thursday afternoon, Victorian Liberal Party leader John Pezuto made it clear he's not going anywhere.
I do wish to emphasize, though, for all Victorians, that I've always been a fighter, and I've always been a fighter for the right reasons and for the right people, the Victorian people, and that's why i will continue in this role.
Pazuto faces calls from members of the Victorian Parliament and from within his own party to step down after that damaging defeat in the Federal Court.
I've always approached the leadership of my party and of the coalition on the basis that I have to fight every day to prove I'm worthy of this role. It's an enormous responsibility and there's a lot at stake. I have to bring my a game every day.
To my job.
That's what makes this role challenging, exciting, rewarding, but tough.
Damon Victorians will head to the polls in a state election in twenty twenty six. What do you make of John Pisuto's decision to stay on in light of Thursday's Federal Court decision, and do you think he's the right person.
To lead the Victorian Liberals to that next election.
The Liberal Party polling has been going quite well over the last six months, putting them in a potential election winning position. Now John Persudo is banking on that continuing into the new year. He's going to try to ride this out. He is banking on the fact that Victorians are more concerned about the cost of living, the state debt, schools, hospitals, potholes,
rather than an internal dispute between two Liberal MPs. And on one level, it's a bold strategy and time will tell if it's correct, But it also I think underplays the level of angst within the Victorian Parliamentary Party about how it's found itself in this position and what.
Does this all mean for unity and for harmony within the party.
Well, unity and harmony are not two words that are normally used in the same sentence as the Victorian Liberal Party. Remember, since nineteen ninety nine, the Liberal Party have only been in office for four years, and I think since nineteen eighty three it's only eleven years. So the Liberal Party once considered Victoria as its crown jewel. The reality is the Liberal Party has been in aberration at a state
level in Victoria since the early eighties. Now can they win the twenty twenty sixth state election, and can they win under John Pisuto.
The polling suggests they can.
However, there's a lot of concern about Pursuto's judgment, how he allowed this degenerate to where it got to today.
And in fact it's the own goal.
He overreached, went too hard and too far with More Redeeming too soon. Perhaps a more experienced, well considered politician would have just allowed this to play out a little longer, but he went hard, he went fast, and.
Ultimately the court found he went too far.
For her part, More Redeeming has expressed her desire to get back to work. She says she's open to re admission to the party room, and she says she believes she can work with John Pisuto in the future. But More Redeeming said on Thursday, she's not holding her breath for an apology.
The time for asking and demanding things from that man block that ship sailed ages ago. The judge has given me something even better. So I actually genuinely am looking forward to this part being over and just focusing on that.
So thank you.
John Bozuitto declined to say on Thursday if More Redeeming would be invited back to the party room.
I've always maintained that questions of readmission or expulsion from any party room are matters for the members of that party room. So I never wished to speak on behalf of the room on those matters. Their matters for internal debate in this room.
Is that likely to happen?
Do you think?
The reality is he is the leader, so it is a matter for him. And I thought that was a really sign of weakness, uncertainty and cowardice even that he wouldn't actually explain why he didn't want her back in the party room.
Look, the reality is that More Redeeming does not have a lot of support. In the past, she could probably.
Count five, maybe six votes. However, if a leadership rival thinks that by bringing the fight on, by getting a vote, going to try and get her back into the party room, it may engineer a spill on Persuto's leadership, then.
That's how it may happen next year.
More redeemings re entry to the party room won't be in and of itself. It has to come as part of a broader play to destroy Persuto's leadership.
That's the only way it will happen in my view.
Just lastly, Damon, does the situation in Victoria present any problems for the party at a federal level, especially in the lead up to next year's election.
I think it does.
And federal Liberal MPs have been exercised about this defamation case and they've been exercised about it because they're concerned. They're concerned that the Liberal brand in Victoria is still not strong, that the party is not unified. However, countering that are the polls. Now it's not just one poll, across a range of different opinion polls by different media organizations and polling firms.
The Liberals are showing themselves to.
Be getting into a winning position, which is exactly where an opposition wants to be at the halfway mark of a term. But look, if this blows up again in late January or February, it may be on the eve of a federal election and that can't be of assistance because I think that will be a massive distraction.
Damon Johnston is The Australian's Victorian editor. Before you go, I wanted to let you know the Australians Annual CEO survey is out today. Our team spoke to more than seventy of the nation's business leaders, from mining and energy to banking, manufacturing and retail about how they really feel about the economy, reforms and the rise of Donald Trump. Check it out at the Australian dot com dot au.
Thanks for joining us on the front this week.
Our team is Claire Harvey, Jasper Leik, Leot Zammaglu, Josh Burton, Tiffany Dimmac, Stephanie Coombs and Meek Kristen Amiot.