Liberal MP Moira Deeming Says She Did Not Condemn Kellie-Jay Keen, Katherine Deves
Image: Victorian Liberal MP Moira Deeming.
Hours after Victorian opposition leader John Pesutto failed to expel Moira Deeming from the Parliamentary party, the Liberal MP has said she did not condemn British anti-trans campaigner Kellie-Jay Keen, aka Posie Parker.
On Monday, Deeming survived the expulsion vote over her participation in Keen’s anti-trans rally in Melbourne that was attended by neo-Nazis. She was instead suspended for nine months from the party room after Pesutto claimed she had condemned “the type of conduct referred to in the dossier.”
Hours later, Deeming was back on Twitter clarifying she had not condemned Keen and other anti-trans activists.
“Don’t worry, I never condemned you, or KD (failed Warringah Liberal candidate Katherine Deves), or KJ (Kellie-Jay Keen),” Deeming responded to anti-trans activist Angie Jones.
Pesutto told ABC News Breakfast on Tuesday morning that Deeming “was not off to a good start”.
Error Of Judgement
Deeming, who has a history of making anti-trans statements, in her response to moves to expel her, admitted that “with the benefit of hindsight of what has occurred that my participation may have been an error of judgement that resulted in unneeded scrutiny”
“I condemned the horrifying Nazi salute. I did not explicitly condemn the men as Nazis because at that time none of us were aware that these were confirmed Nazis,” Deeming claimed in her six-page response to the Liberal Party.
— Shannon Deery (@s_deery) March 27, 2023
In another statement on Monday, Deeming said she had “accepted that my attendance at the ‘Let Women Speak’ event on the steps of the Victorian Parliament on Saturday 18 March may have been an error of judgement.”
Statement from Moira Deeming: pic.twitter.com/DiFzSqWZUN
— Benita Kolovos (@benitakolovos) March 27, 2023
“I accept the suspension given to me by my colleagues. As I have stated, I unreservedly condemn the poor-taste Nazi jokes and Nazi analogies listed in the annex of evidence against me. I believe I am innocent of all imputations and accusations of any connection whatsoever with Nazism in any shape or form and any bigotry whatsoever toward the LGBTQI+ community.”
Not Off To A Good Start
However, Deeming’s tweet reassuring Keen, Deves and Jones that she had not condemned them, contradicted Pesutto’s claims.
On Tuesday morning Pesutto told ABC News Breakfast, that if Deeming’s tweets contradict the assurances and representation that she had given to the party “that would obviously be a serious matter for the party room”.
"The party room will be looking very closely, all of us, who believed what was put to the party room … if there is some discrepancy … then that would have serious consequences, absolutely." – @JohnPesutto on Moira Deeming #abc730 pic.twitter.com/PQlVOJFtEr
— abc730 (@abc730) March 27, 2023
“Moira’s not off to a good start and the party room will be very, very seriously concerned if Moira doesn’t prove herself by faithfully observing what we agreed to,” Pesutto told ABC News Breakfast.
“It concerns me, it absolutely does, that those tweets appear to be contradictory but I can tell you Moira won’t be able to re-enter the party room if she’s going to be speaking and acting inconsistently with what the party room agreed,” added Pesutto.
Weak of Mr Pesutto not to sack her.
She is going to cause further problems down the track.