The Victorian Liberal Party is expected to dump controversial MP Moira Deeming as its candidate for the November election for refusing to apologise to her partyroom colleague Matthew Guy, despite conceding he did not put her in a headlock.
Members of the party’s state executive were expecting Opposition Leader Jess Wilson to make the move and ask to have her preselection revoked.
Mrs Deeming had accepted a request to meet with Ms Wilson, but leader of opposition business James Newbury on Tuesday said that was now off the table given her refusal to apologise to Mr Guy.
“A request was made for her to make an unqualified apology. She has refused to do that. Further action, therefore, needs to occur, and the party is working on that now,” Mr Newbury said.
The state executive would need three days to arrange a meeting to vote on removing Mrs Deeming as the top candidate on the Liberal Party ballot for the Western Metropolitan Region, a position that all but guarantees election.
Former Victorian Liberal leader Matthew Guy has demanded apologies from Moira Deeming and Premier Jacinta Allan. (AAP: Con Chronis)
Several MPs, including those who have been allies of Mrs Deeming, have said they no longer want her in the team.
Mrs Deeming had alleged that Mr Guy put her in a headlock at a Macedonian community event last month.
She first took her complaint to Ms Wilson’s office before reporting the allegation to Victoria Police.
Police on Thursday dismissed her complaint after reviewing CCTV of the interaction.
Footage showed Mr Guy placing his hand on Mrs Deeming’s back at the crowded Sunshine venue.
Mr Guy demanded an apology at an emotional press conference on Friday, and has threatened to bring in defamation lawyers.
Victorian Opposition Leader Jess Wilson has publicly backed leadership predecessor Matthew Guy. (ABC News)
Mrs Deeming has claimed she is enduring “pack bullying”.
She insists she made the complaint in good faith and that her interpretation of the interaction was exacerbated by trauma.
In a statement released through her lawyer on Monday, Mrs Deeming conceded she misunderstood the technical meaning of the word headlock but said she would not apologise for making tne complaint.
“She will not apologise for something she has not done,”
her lawyer Tim Houweling said.
“She accepts that she misunderstood the technical meaning of the term ‘headlock’ but maintains that she used it in good faith to describe what happened.”
Mr Newbury said he had not spoken to Mrs Deeming for weeks or possibly for months.
Mrs Deeming was contacted for comment on Tuesday.
