Inside the betrayal that drove MP Moira Deeming to fight for the protection of women’s rights

She was the mother of four who unwittingly became the face of Nazi hatred against the transgender community.

But on the back of a nasty smear campaign by her political masters, Moira Deeming has not only survived a bungled attempt to expel her from the Liberal Party, she has emerged as a poster girl for the protection of ordinary women’s rights.

Now, some of those closet to Ms Deeming have given Daily Mail Australia a glimpse of what makes her tick  – and revealed why the controversial MP is more determined than ever to stick to her values.

Moira Deeming (centre) arrives at the Parliament of Victoria in Melbourne on Monday. She walked with a suspension, but will be free to continue her mission to protect the rights of women and children 

Liberal party MP Moira Deeming on March 21 when party leaders turned against her in an ill-advised witch hunt

Liberal party MP Moira Deeming on March 21 when party leaders turned against her in an ill-advised witch hunt 

Victorian Liberal leader John Pesutto had wanted the MP expelled from the party after she appeared at a Let Women Speak rally that was gatecrashed by neo-Nazis on March 18.

But the hatchet job spectacularly failed.

Instead of being dumped from the party, Ms Deeming has been suspended from the party room for nine months.

Political insiders say the suspension might actually allow Ms Deeming – who represents Victoria’s Western Metropolitan Region – to spend more time concentrating on her job. 

‘She won’t have to attend their meetings, which is in itself a blessing,’ a source said on Tuesday. 

It is understood Ms Deeming is now taking time off to enjoy a holiday with her family while the dust from Mr Pesutto’s botched takedown attempt settles. 

She declined to comment when contacted by Daily Mail Australia on Tuesday. 

Activist Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshull addresses Melbourne women on March 18. Moira Deeming is pictured to her left

Activist Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshull addresses Melbourne women on March 18. Moira Deeming is pictured to her left 

Neo-Nazi leader Thomas Sewell caused outrage when he and his cohorts turned-up at the Let Women Speak rally

Neo-Nazi leader Thomas Sewell caused outrage when he and his cohorts turned-up at the Let Women Speak rally

Melbourne Nazis gate crashed the Let Women Speak rally in March. Their attendance saw Moira Deeming wrongly branded a Nazi sympathiser 

How Moira Deeming closed down Nazi-links on Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshull

The following is an extract of Ms Deeming’s response to her party’s attempts to cancel her: 

‘The allegations about Ms Keen using a Barbie Doll wearing a Nazi uniform as her profile picture on the social media site Spinster made in The National hit piece are missing context. Ms Keen made a poor distasteful joke, which I unreservedly condemn, in an attempt to mock a far-left activist who had called her a Nazi Barbie doll. I had not heard of the social media site Spinster until this motion. It is self-evident that it is not the implication of the image, and the word ‘pridestapo’, that Keen is herself sympathetic to Nazi views or associated with Nazi groups in anyway.’

‘It is apparent that the textual and visual conjunction of “Pride” with “Gestapo” is to analogise the authoritarian policing done by the Gestapo, to the authoritarian policing of dialogue around women’s interests and women’s rights by some extreme activists in the Pride lobby (which is distinct from people who identify as gay and lesbian themselves who are a diverse group, many of whom agree with the “pro women’s rights” position).’

Born to dedicated and loving parents in Pakenham Upper – 53 km south-east of Melbourne’s CBD – Ms Deeming lived a somewhat disjointed life after their divorce and eventually landed across Port Phillip Bay in Melbourne’s western suburbs in her teenage years.

With a passion for education, Ms Deeming went about studying and becoming a teacher, which she did for more than a decade before being inspired to join her local council in Melton. 

She began life as a left-leaning Labor supporter, which those that know her say are values she continues to hold today. 

‘She basically became a Liberal because they were far more democratic in their internal structure and had the ability to speak up and have different opinions,’ a friend of Ms Deeming said. 

‘I think Moira was sad at how the Labor Party had become an echo chamber where you can’t talk about things. And that’s sad for the vast majority of Labor voters because they have identical views to her.’   

Mr Pesutto’s attempt to boot Ms Deeming from the party forced her to reveal intimate details of her formative years, which included being sexually assaulted as a child. 

In a speech to the party room, Ms Deeming revealed she had been raped as a child and sexually assaulted by men in toilet blocks, which is what drove her actions. 

A close friend of Ms Deeming told Daily Mail Australia she had been preyed upon by vile and opportunistic men. 

‘Predators are what they are. They are just predators and are so good at preying on children … I think she was just one of those kids who predators could pick out as vulnerable and that’s why she is so high on having clear standards,’ she said. 

Ms Deeming’s experiences as a child were inflamed when laws were changed to allow men to enter female toilets and change rooms.

It was an issue she raised as a private citizen with every Victorian council. 

Moira Deeming and her husband Andrew during a trip to the UK. The couple have four children together

Moira Deeming and her husband Andrew during a trip to the UK. The couple have four children together 

HOW VICTORIAN LIBERAL LEADER WORKED TO END MP

Victorian Opposition Leader John Pesutto shot himself in the foot taking on Moira Deeming on false links to her siding with Nazis

Victorian Opposition Leader John Pesutto shot himself in the foot taking on Moira Deeming on false links to her siding with Nazis

John Pesutto confirmed planned to put forward a motion to expel Ms Deeming as a member of the parliamentary Liberal Party, declaring her position on March 20 as ‘untenable’.

‘Moira Deeming not only attended this protest on the steps of parliament, but was actively involved in different ways in the organisation and promotion of this protest at which there were speakers with known links to neo-Nazis,’ he told ABC News Breakfast.

‘I won’t have any of it.’

‘What I’m doing is a statement that we will not tolerate or ever accept any association with neo-Nazis and white supremacists or anybody who sympathises with them.’ 

On Monday, after aborting his mission to expel her, Mr Pesutto said Ms Deeming made some ‘important concessions’ and ‘condemned’ material in a dossier that helped alter her fate. 

‘I don’t think a vast majority of people know this, but under the law now, you’ve got to assume that whoever is in a public toilet today has a right to be there,’ she told the Sentinel-Times in July 2021. 

‘If we go into the female change rooms and there is a man getting naked there in front of my girls, I can’t do anything about it except leave.’

Those closest to Ms Deeming told Daily Mail Australia the past few weeks have only made her more determined to stick to her values. 

‘She had prepared a win speech and a lose speech, but not her despicably unjust and pointless suspension speech. But she’s resolute. They’re not going to make her sell out on her values,’ a source said. 

‘She’s not interested in being a click bait sensation or setting up a long-term career as a Sky News host. She’ll put her head down and work out how to achieve change in these laws and she won’t care about getting credit for it. It’s about how to effectively influence the laws to reinstate some basic child safeguarding and some sex-based rights.’ 

While media outlets have run a narrative declaring Ms Deeming holds ‘a far right agenda’, Ms Deeming’s supporters told Daily Mail Australia she had never actually stepped near the biggest three issues fitting that mould. 

‘She’s never outlined public policy issues on sex work, euthanasia and abortion,’ a source said. 

‘There are probably particular aspects of those policies she has, but it’s not accurate to say she has a huge agenda and there’s no evidence to say that it is her agenda and we’re all unsure on why people keep saying it.’

They further declared Ms Deeming was not campaigning for ‘anti-trans rights’. 

‘She’s on the record repeatedly saying she’s happy to look after them,’ the source said. 

In reality, Ms Deeming is known to place herself smack-bang in the centre of both left and right ideologies. 

‘She’s just simply open to learning and listening about things before having a policy position,’ the source said. 

The Pesutto move saw Ms Deeming obtain support from the conservative faction of the Liberal Party, which is believed to be a first in her political career. 

Whether she continues to enjoy that support going forward remains up in the air. 

‘She will always vote based on her conscience. It would be pointless to give her a list of people to vote for. She’s not making deals. She’s going to vote for the best candidate every single time,’ the source said. 

MOIRA DEEMING’S SOLUTION TO TRANS TOILET DEBATE

A source close to Ms Deeming told Daily Mail Australia the MP had a simple solution to issues around trans-women using female toilets and change rooms. 

‘Toilets are easy to deal with. You do floor to ceiling occupancy cubicles with sinks outside with every single toilet,’ the source said. 

‘Change rooms and service provision is trickier. We need to understand the law on that and if they can be provided for in addition to, rather than instead of, women’s only spaces.’

‘It’s an issue the government refuses to answer and it’s a massive scandal that no-one is picking up on.’ 

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