Opposition Leader John Pesutto has settled two of his three defamation cases out of court. As part of the deal, he has issued a public apology to women’s rights activist from Britain Kellie-Jay Keen and Melbourne woman Angela Jones. Fight with Moira Deeming is on.
A long after the defamation caser filed by his own MP Moira Deeming, the two activists also sued John Pesutto for defamation over comments he made following the Let Women Speak rally last year attended by Mrs Deeming, Kellie-Jay Keen and Angela Jones which was gate-crashed by neo-Nazis who also made a deliberate, public display of offering Nazi salute.
Mr Pesutto made comments to ABC’s 7.30 following the anti-trans rights rally which had become the bone of contention despite the ABC later publishing a clarification explaining that “some viewers may have understood the interview to suggest that Kellie-Jay Keen, who was not named in the interview, who organised the Melbourne ‘Let Women Speak’ event, has associations with neo-Nazis”.
“The ABC understands Ms Keen denies any association with neo-Nazis and the ABC does not endorse any imputation that may have been conveyed to that effect.”
In the public statement Mr Pesutto has released a apologizing to the rally organizers, he says he does endorse conversations about women-only spaces and he never intended to tie Ms Keen and Ms Jones with the Nazi ideology.
Excerpts from the statement:
er John Pesutto
“Kellie-Jay Keen and Angela Jones are passionate women’s rights activists with long histories of advocacy in Australia and internationally. I agree with them that genuine community concerns regarding women’s safety and access to single-sex spaces, services and sport warrant meaningful public discussion,” the statement begins.
…
“I have never believed or intended to assert that Kellie-Jay Keen and Angela Jones are Neo-Nazis. It is also now clear from public statements made by Ms Keen and Ms Jones that they share my belief that Nazism is odious and contemptible.
“I recognise that there have been times when my comments could have more clearly differentiated between the organisers of the 18 March 2023 Let Women Speak Rally and the Neo-Nazis who attended the steps of Parliament House on that day.
“It has never been my intention to convey that I believed Ms Keen and Ms Jones to be Neo-Nazis, or that they were members of Neo-Nazi groups. As far as my comments may have been misunderstood as conveying that I believed this to be the case, I apologise for any hurt, distress or harm that has occurred.
Responding via her YouTube channel, and praising the “full and magnanimous apology” which she “graciously” accepted, Ms Keen in part said:
“The fullness of the apology and the assertion that it’s right and proper that women in Australia can speak about their fears, that this quasi-religious cult actually brings, that the Liberal Party and John Pesutto himself recognise the need to speak about violence against women and girls and so on, that’s just a magnificent step forward.”
“We definitely changed the landscape of what could and couldn’t be talked about in Australia, and I’m really, really proud of that.”
What does not make any sense is the legal battle between Mr Pesutto and Moira Deeming will continue.
There is no political capital in the court battle for John Pesutto.
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Some insiders say Mrs Deeming is insisting that she needs to return to the parliamentary Liberal party, which according they believe, is unacceptable to some hardliner disciplinarians in the parliamentary Liberal party.
With the polls showing a lift in the primary vote for the Liberal party and the Allan government on the nose, common sense should prevail. For the Pesutto team, it is imperative there is no battle inside the house if they want to give any real crack at winning the government in 2026.
What Pesutto must realise, the sin of Moira Deeming, particularly in light of the apology Mr Pesutto has given to the two Kelly-Jay Keen and Angela Jones, will look tiny to the voters compared to the punishment she has been meted out by the boys in Mr Pesutto’s Liberal club, who may be buoyed by the jump in polls and thus not worried about their political future beyond 2026.
A day in politics can be a whole lot longer than a century.
There is no reason or rhyme in this battle to continue and bringing an end to it can only benefit Mr Pesutto and his team who are doing well at the moment in holding the Allan government to account.
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