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John Pesutto is facing the most precarious moment of his political career.

Last December, Federal Court Justice David O’Callaghan ruled that Pesutto’s accusations against fellow Liberal MP Moira Deeming – that she associated with neo-Nazis – were not only false, but defamatory.

Pesutto consequently lost his position as Victorian Liberal Opposition Leader.

Federal Court: Pesutto Must Pay

Now, in a decision handed down last Friday, 16 May, the Federal Court ruled that Pesutto must pay more than $2.6 million in damages and legal costs to Ms Deeming.

The court didn’t mince words, concluding that Pesutto caused “serious harm” by “bandying around words” with careless disregard.

Federal Court registrar Alison Legge calculated Deeming’s legal costs to be $2,308,873.11.

This cost is on top of the $315,000 in damages awarded by O’Callaghan in December.

The purpose of the costs order was “not to punish the unsuccessful party but to compensate the successful party for costs incurred in the litigation”, Legge said.

Bankruptcy and By-Election

It’s a brutal blow for a man who once embodied the Victorian Liberals’ hope for inner-city revival. Now, he stands at the brink of bankruptcy.

Victorian law requires that sitting members of parliament cannot declare bankruptcy during their term.

If Pesutto can’t pay, he will be forced out of Parliament, triggering a by-election in Hawthorn.

The inner-urban seat is one of the Liberal Party’s most vulnerable, held by a margin of just 1.7%. In some booths in the Hawthorn electorate, the Teal independents outpolled the Liberals 70–30 at the last election. A by-election here wouldn’t just be a challenge. It could be a rout.

The ruling is more than just a legal setback – it’s a potential political implosion. A fragile Victorian Liberal Party’s deep ideological fractures are once again on full display.

Pesutto remains steadfast in his prior actions, maintaining he “was acting in good faith”. However, he “accepts that I could have handled that situation better.”

Note how @PatsKarvelas doesn’t even bother to challenge the disgraced @JohnPesutto on his appalling treatment of @MoiraDeemingMP? If it was a woman on the left who was treated so cruelly Karvelas would have gone for the jugular. Pathetic. pic.twitter.com/RRWoA8mcNQ

— Stephen Chavura (@ChavuraStephen) May 20, 2025

Fundraising or Financial Ruin

Currently, Pesutto’s supporters are scrambling to raise about $500,000 in private donations. A GoFundMe page has been launched in an attempt to stave off financial ruin.

By Wednesday evening, the fundraising effort had raised $146,185 – 29% of the $500k target.

The total includes a surprise $500 donation by ‘Teal’ Climate 200 founder Simon Holmes à Court.

Mr Holmes à Court confirmed he donated to the GoFundMe campaign, telling The Age, “It’s unconscionable that entities associated with the Victorian Liberals – with investments approaching $200 million – are prepared to leave John and his family destitute, especially when he was acting as the leader of the party and with the full support of the leadership team.”

“Good luck attracting talent to join the party after this debacle”, he added.

Holmes à Court ceased supporting the Liberal Party after falling out with former Liberal federal deputy leader Josh Frydenberg.

As a result of the stoush with Frydenberg, Holmes à Court went on to found and finance Climate 200, targeting Liberal-held seats with remarkable success in the 2022 federal election.

Pesutto has already had donations from former Liberal Victorian premiers Ted Baillieu, Jeff Kennett and Denis Napthine.

Current Liberal leader Brad Battin has remained tight-lipped about Liberal funds bailing out Pesutto, telling reporters that the decision was up to the party secretariat. “All of the conversations I’ll have with my team around this will remain confidential”, he said.

Up to this point, formal Liberal Party support seems conspicuously absent. The influential Cormack Foundation, a major Liberal donor network, is yet to commit any funds to cover Pesutto’s costs.

It’s not hard to see why.

Sorry Saga Continues to Sink Pesutto and Liberal Party Deeper into Crisis

Pesutto’s fight for political survival risks dragging the party deeper into crisis.

This sorry saga has not only questioned Pesutto’s future but also placed the entire direction of the Victorian Liberal Party under a harsh spotlight.

Moira Deeming with Liberal Leader Brad Battin. Photo: Moira Deeming/X.

The attempt to marginalise a conservative colleague to curry favour with progressive voters has backfired – spectacularly.

Pesutto has three weeks, starting from last Friday’s ruling, to pay the lump sum.

Unless a miracle emerges from fundraising efforts, the Victorian Liberals could soon be contesting a by-election they can’t afford – in more ways than one.

On 16 December 2024, Deeming calmly and confidently stated, “We are going to survive whatever it is that you are going to throw at us.”

“And then we will win.”

History has now proven her correct.

Moira Deeming now walks away vindicated, both legally and politically. Her detractor faces financial and professional ruin.

The Victorian Liberal Party would do much worse than look to Liberal leaders like Deeming to regain public respect and trust.

She knows what winning looks like.

More importantly, she understands what it takes to achieve it.

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