A Conservative Liberal MP who won a defamation lawsuit against the party’s former leader for falsely accusing her of associating with Nazis has been replaced by an Indian businessman on the Liberals’ election ticket.
Victorian upper house MP Moira Deeming lost her preselection contest for the top spot in the Liberal Party’s Western Metropolitan Region ahead of the November state election.
In a party ballot held on Sunday, members voted 37-29 in favour of moderate-backed Dinesh Gourisetty, a prominent figure in Melbourne’s Indian community. Ms Deeming, who contested only the first position on the ticket, did not nominate for any lower spots.
The outcome means Ms Deeming will leave parliament at the election unless she pursues another political path, and has been described by some within the party as a symbolic defeat for the remaining conservative voices in the Victorian Liberals.
Ms Deeming first entered parliament in 2022 after winning preselection for the same region, but shot to prominence after attending a 2023 women’s rights rally in Melbourne, leading to her expulsion from the Liberal parliamentary party room under moderate then-leader John Pesutto.
She successfully sued Mr Pesutto for defamation after he linked her to National Socialist Network protesters who gatecrashed the rally with a banner reading “destroy paedo freaks” and faced off with far-left pro”-transgenderism” extremists.
Ms Deeming was awarded $300,000 in damages and $2.3 million in legal costs in late 2024, and following a party room spill, she was readmitted to the parliamentary wing in December 2024 under new leader Jess Wilson.
Ms Wilson publicly endorsed Deeming’s preselection bid, while Mr Gourisetty, who has no prior parliamentary experience and whose Indian restaurant was fined in 2019 for unsafe food practices, secured support from the party’s moderate faction.
Current upper house MP Trung Luu received three votes in the contest for first position but later won the ballot for second spot on the ticket.
The Victorian Liberals remain embroiled in a battle over a $1.55 million loan given to Mr Pesutto so he could pay Ms Deeming’s legal costs.
Ms Deeming may also take further legal action over five defendants in the case being able to vote in the preselection contest.
Header image: Left, Moira Deeming. Right, Dinesh Gourisetty (Facebook).
