Former Victorian Liberal leader John Pesutto ordered to pay $2.3m in costs from Moira Deeming defamation battle
Former Victorian Liberal leader John Pesutto could be forced out of state parliament after being ordered to pay more than $2.3 million in costs after losing a defamation case bought by fellow MP Moira Deeming.
16 May 2025
Former Victorian Liberal leader John Pesutto has been ordered to pay more than $2.3 million in costs after losing a defamation case bought by fellow Liberal MP Moira Deeming.
The order raises the prospect he will be bankrupted and forced out of state parliament,
Ms Deeming successfully sued Mr Pesutto after he moved to expel her from the party room in 2023 after she attended an anti-trans-rights rally that was gatecrashed by Neo-Nazis.
It is understood Mr Pesutto will be unable to pay the costs order, or his own legal bills, and has been seeking loans from Liberal powerbrokers to fend off being made bankrupt, but no deal has been struck.
Bankrupts are disqualified from state parliament.
ABC
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