Moira Deeming | |
---|---|
Member of the Victorian Legislative Council for Western Metropolitan Region | |
Assumed office 26 November 2022 | |
Councillor of the City of Melton for Watts Ward | |
In office 5 November 2020 –21 December 2022 | |
Succeeded by | Justine Farrugia |
Personal details | |
Political party | Independent Liberal (since 2023) [1] [2] [3] |
Other political affiliations | Liberal [lower-alpha 1] |
Children | 4 |
Occupation |
|
Moira Deeming is an Australian politician. She is a former member of the parliamentary Liberal Party and is currently an Independent Liberal member of the Victorian Legislative Council, representing the Western Metropolitan Region since November 2022. She was previously a councillor for the Melton City Council representing the Watts Ward. [5]
On 27 March 2023, she was suspended from the parliamentary Liberal Party for nine months. A week earlier, it had been announced by the leader of the opposition, John Pesutto, that he would move to have her expelled from the parliamentary Liberal Party after she spoke at an anti-trans rally outside the Victorian Parliament. [6] [7] The rally was attended by neo-Nazi groups who repeatedly performed Nazi salutes from the steps of Parliament. [8] She was expelled from the parliamentary party room on 12 May 2023. [9] [10]
Deeming was "born and bred on the political left coming from a long line of union leaders, card-carrying Labor Party members, and Labor MPs". [11] Her great-grandfather was John Joseph Holland, a western suburbs Labor MP for over thirty-five years as well as a councillor for the city of Melbourne. [12]
Deeming is Presbyterian, [5] though attended the Catholic high school St. Francis Xavier College. [13]
Deeming identifies as being Māori. [14]
Deeming has a Bachelor of International Relations from La Trobe University and a Post-Graduate Diploma of Education from the University of Melbourne. [15] She previously worked as a teacher for over a decade. [5]
![]() | This article may contain excessive or inappropriate references to self-published sources .(November 2023) |
Deeming described the anti-bullying and inclusion program Safe Schools as "sleazy". [16] In 2020 she described the "watch and wait" approach for treating gender dysphoria as "highly successful, low risk" [17] —in line with the Liberal Party's statement that while they oppose conversion therapy, the Andrews' government legislation "allows government interference in the relationships between medical professionals and patients," and "unfairly targets psychiatry and psychotherapy specifically". [18]
On 18 March 2023, Deeming spoke at an anti-trans rally, which was part of anti-transgender rights activist Kellie Jay Keen's speaking tour. [19]
She is anti-abortion and believes that laws legalising abortion need to be repealed, [20] [21] and believes that rape victims should reject abortions and turn to God and to the church instead. [22] She is against voluntary euthanasia. [21]
Deeming is against the COVID-19 vaccine mandates, and considers vaccine passports "immoral" and a form of "segregation". [23] As of September 2021 she said in an interview that she was unvaccinated, and that she'll be "waiting" and that she is "reserving her judgement" due to "concerns". [24]
Deeming is against changing the date of Australia Day. [25] She is a member of the conservative think-tank Institute of Public Affairs. [26]
Deeming stood as a candidate for the Liberal Party in the lower house for the seat of St Albans at the 2014 Victorian state election. She secured 26.9% of the vote, losing to the Labor Party's Natalie Suleyman. [27]
In 2018 at the state election Deeming stood as a candidate for the Liberal Party for the upper house Western Metropolitan Region seat in the Victorian Legislative Council. She received 356 first preference votes (0.08%) and failed to gain a seat. [28]
Deeming stood as a candidate for Watts Ward at the 2020 Melton local election on 24 October, receiving 21.49% of the primary vote and successfully securing the second allocation. [29] [30]
Following the 2022 Australian federal election, it was reported in The Age that on 26 March the Victorian Liberal Party's administrative committee voted for Deeming to run in the lower house seat of Gorton. [31] Before she was able to be endorsed, a top party official relayed the view of Scott Morrison's Office that "negative media coverage of Deeming's hardline social views could distract" from Morrison's campaign. [31] Reportedly, another vote was held and a different candidate was picked. [31]
On 23 July, Deeming was endorsed by the Liberal Party to contest the upper house Western Metropolitan Region seat in the Victorian Legislative Council to replace Bernie Finn at the Victorian state election. [25]
Deeming's preselection was considered controversial because she replaced the similarly right-wing Bernie Finn at the top of the Liberal ticket, following Finn's expulsion from the Liberal Party after making "inflammatory social media posts". [32] Finn, who contested the election as a Democratic Labour Party candidate, was reported to be "delighted" at Deeming's preselection. [33] Andrew Elsbury, a moderate Liberal Party member who held the seat from 2010–2014 quit the party in response to her preselection, describing it as the "final straw". [34] Deeming was successfully elected to the Legislative Council.
In Deeming's maiden speech before parliament, she criticised critical social justice in school curriculums and the "decriminalisation of sex work". [35]
On 18 March 2023, Deeming spoke at an anti-trans rally, organised by Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshull in Melbourne, which was also attended by the neo-Nazi group National Socialist Network (NSN) and its leader Thomas Sewell as well as Nathan Bull, a neo-Nazi son of a police officer. [36] [10] The neo-Nazis repeatedly engaged in Nazi salutes and carried far-right extremist banners (including one that compared transgender people to paedophiles), directed at a counter protest of the anti-trans rally, which had been organised by LGBT activists. [19] [8]
In a public statement describing Deeming's position as "untenable" due to her "involvement in organising, promoting and participating in a rally with speakers and other organisers who themselves have been publicly associated with far right-wing extremist groups including neo-Nazi activists", Liberal opposition leader John Pesutto moved to expel her from the party. [19] An attempt was made by fellow MPs Brad Battin and Richard Riordan to delay the expulsion a week, but the move failed, losing the vote 18 to 11. It was believed that Deeming was also supported by Chris Crewther, Matthew Guy, Bill Tilley, David Hodgett, and Ann-Marie Hermans. [37]
Liberal MPs reportedly pressured Pesutto to find a less severe punishment over her role in the rally due to the in-fighting the rally has caused in the party. [38]
In the end, a compromise was made with Deeming accepting a nine-month suspension from the party instead of expulsion from the party. The compromise came after Deeming issued a private statement in the party room, condemning Keen-Minshull's previous use of a Barbie wearing a Nazi uniform on her social media as a "poor distasteful joke". [39]
During her suspension from the party, Deeming threatened party leader Pesutto with legal action, but backed away after a fresh attempt was made to oust her from the party. This second effort, led by former party leader Matthew Guy, saw Deeming back away from her threat of legal action. [40]
Deeming reportedly returned to threatening the Liberal Party leader again after sending a letter reiterating the threat of a defamation case. [41] On 12 May 2023 Deeming was expelled from the parliamentary party room by 19 votes to 11. [9] [10] Deeming subsequently filled a civil complaint against Pesutto. [42] The hearing has set down for a hearing beginning on 16 September 2024. [42]
Despite her expulsion, Deeming has re-iterated that she would never quit or resign from the party. In an interview with Sky News Australia's Peta Credlin, Deeming stated that she had been "betrayed" by the party and "relentlessly hunted" out of the party room following the anti-trans rally. [43]
As a result of her expulsion, Deeming now sits as an Independent Liberal [2] [3] — a label often used to designate politicians who are members of the Liberal Party yet who are not members of the party's parliamentary caucus.
Andrew Phillip Olexander is a former Australian politician. He was a member of the Victorian Legislative Council representing Silvan Province from 1999 until 2006.
Bernard Thomas Christopher Finn is a former Australian politician who was a member of the Victorian Legislative Council representing the Western Metropolitan Region from the election of November 2006 until he lost in the November 2022 election. He was previously the member for the electoral district of Tullamarine in the Victorian Legislative Assembly from October 1992 until September 1999.
Sarah Moya Henderson is an Australian politician, lawyer and former journalist. She has been a Senator for Victoria since September 2019, representing the Liberal Party. She previously held the Division of Corangamite in the House of Representatives from 2013 to 2019.
John Pesutto is an Australian politician and lawyer serving as the Leader of the Opposition in Victoria, holding office as the leader of the Victorian Branch of the Liberal Party of Australia. He has been a member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) for the inner-city division of Hawthorn since 2022, and previously from 2014 to 2018.
Stephanie Maureen Ryan is a former Australian politician. She was a National Party member of the Victorian Legislative Assembly from 2014 to 2022, representing the Legislative Assembly seat of Euroa. Ryan retired from politics at the 2022 Victorian state election, citing family reasons. Making the announcement while pregnant with her second child, Ryan expressed a desire to seek more flexible employment.
Christopher John Crewther is an Australian politician. He was a Liberal Party of Australia member of the Australian House of Representatives from 2016 to 2019 before being elected to the Victorian State Parliament, representing the division of Mornington in 2022.
The Victorian Liberal Party, officially known as the Liberal Party of Australia (Victorian Division) and branded as Liberal Victoria, is the state division of the Liberal Party of Australia in Victoria. It was formed in 1944. It became the Liberal and Country Party (LCP) in 1949, and simplified its name to the Liberal Party in 1965. The party sits on the centre-right to right-wing of the Australian political spectrum.
James Benjamin Kingsley Newbury is an Australian politician. He has been a Liberal Party member of the Victorian Legislative Assembly since November 2018, representing the seat of Brighton. Newbury is the currently the Shadow Minister for Environment and Climate Change, Equality, and the Manager of Opposition Business.
Kaushaliya Virjibhai Vaghela is a former Australian politician. She was a member of the Victorian Legislative Council from 2018 to 2022, representing the Western Metropolitan Region. She was the first Indian-born member of the Victorian Parliament, and is a Hindu. Before her preselection in 2018, she briefly worked as a part-time adviser to then-State Minister for Multicultural Affairs, Robin Scott.
The 2022 Victorian state election was held on Saturday, 26 November 2022 to elect the 60th Parliament of Victoria. All 88 seats in the Legislative Assembly and all 40 seats in the Legislative Council were up for election at the time the writs were issued, however the election in the district of Narracan was deferred due to the death of a candidate.
The Shadow Ministry of Matthew Guy was the Coalition opposition, opposing the Andrews government in the Parliament of Victoria, Australia. Matthew Guy held the position of opposition leader twice, first from 4 December 2014 until 6 December 2018, following his loss in the 2018 Victorian state election, and then again from 7 September 2021 until 8 December 2022 when he defeated his successor, Michael O'Brien in a leadership spill. The shadow cabinet was made up of the caucuses from the Liberal Party and Nationals.
Jessica Kate Wilson is a Liberal Party member of the Victorian Legislative Assembly for the seat of Kew. Prior to her candidacy, Wilson was the executive director of the Business Council of Australia.
Kellie-Jay Nyishie Keen-Minshull, also known as Posie Parker, is a British gender-critical and anti–transgender rights activist and the leader of the political party, Party of Women. She is the founder of the group Standing for Women and the former special advisor to the Women's Liberation Front (WoLF). Keen-Minshull has been described as a key figure opposing the United Kingdom's Gender Recognition Act of 2004. She has been credited for popularising the use of the term "adult human female" to define a woman; the term later became associated with gender-critical feminism. She launched a failed bid to become the MP for the constituency of Bristol Central in the 2024 United Kingdom general election, coming in last place with only 0.5% of the vote.
The New Democrats (ND), also known as the New Democrats Party (NDP), is an Australian political party founded in 2022 by then-Victorian MLC Kaushaliya Vaghela.
The 2026 Victorian state election is expected to be held on 28 November 2026 to elect the 61st Parliament of Victoria. All 88 seats in the Legislative Assembly and all 40 seats in the Legislative Council will be up for election, presuming there are no new electorates added in a redistribution.
Ann-Marie Hermans is an Australian politician affiliated with the Liberal Party and is a member of the Victorian Legislative Council, representing the South Eastern Metropolitan Region since November 2022. Upon her election to the Legislative Council, she was appointed as the Shadow Minister for Emergency Services and Shadow Minister for WorkCover and the TAC within the Pesutto shadow cabinet. Before joining the Liberals, she ran for Family First at the 2006 Victorian state election.
Renee Heath is an Australian politician who is a current member for Eastern Victoria Region in the Victorian Legislative Council. She is a member of the Liberal Party and was preselected for the 2022 state election, defeating Cathrine Burnett-Wake as the first person on the Liberal Party's group voting ticket for the Eastern Victoria Region.
The 2023 Aston by-election was held on 1 April 2023 to elect the next member of the Australian House of Representatives in the electorate of Aston in Victoria.
Independent Liberal is a description used in Australian politics, often to designate a politician who is a Liberal Party member but not endorsed by the party at elections, or refers to a person who is a member of a parliament and a member of the Liberal Party, but has been expelled or removed from the Liberal party room.
The 2023 Warrandyte state by-election was held on 26 August 2023 to elect the next member for Warrandyte in the Victorian Legislative Assembly, following the resignation of Liberal MP Ryan Smith.
Independent Liberal MP for Western Metropolitan Region, Victoria.
Victoria Independent Liberal MP Moira Deeming has expressed her gratitude to the state Liberal Party for supporting her push for an inquiry into gender-affirming care for children.
The result will mean Ms Deeming remains in parliament as an independent Liberal after having been stripped of her whip position when she was suspended for nine months in March.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link){{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)