Family First National Director and New South Wales Legislative Council lead candidate Lyle Shelton has expressed deep disappointment at the Victorian Liberal Party's decision to disendorse Moira Deeming.
Mr Shelton said while reasonable people could hold differing views about the recent dispute involving former Liberal leader Matthew Guy, the broader pattern of the Liberal Party's treatment of Ms Deeming had been deeply unjust.
"Moira Deeming has been treated appallingly by the Victorian Liberal Party dating back to her pre-selection in 2022. This culminated in her being falsely accused of associating with neo-Nazis simply because she stood up for women's sex-based rights," Mr Shelton said.
"She was publicly vilified, expelled from the parliamentary party and abandoned by colleagues too afraid to speak up before ultimately being vindicated in court when she successfully sued John Pesutto for defamation.
"Family First stood with Moira because she was upholding the hopes of mainstream families and it was obvious she had been grievously wronged. The Victorian Liberal Party leadership should have stood with her too."
Mr Shelton said the contrast between the support shown to Matthew Guy and the treatment Ms Deeming received over the past three years was impossible to ignore.
"When Matthew Guy became the subject of allegations, Liberal colleagues immediately rallied around him with words of sympathy and support. Yet when Moira was falsely branded a Nazi sympathiser in 2023, there was no similar chorus of compassion from the Victorian Liberals. It was crickets.
"There appears to have been one standard for a left-wing Liberal man who backs radical LGBTQA+ agendas and another for a Liberal woman with mainstream family views.”
Mr Shelton said the handling of Ms Deeming's complaint against Mr Guy should concern every member of the Liberal party, a party which goes into the November election continuing to back radical LGBTQA+ policies such as jailing parents who seek to dissuade their children from going to a child gender clinic for puberty blockers or surgery.
"Moira has consistently maintained that she raised her concerns through the Liberal Party's internal processes before being told to go to the police. Whether those concerns were ultimately substantiated is a separate issue.
"Give the toxic history of Moira’s treatment by Victorian Liberal party elites like Guy, her concerns should have been dealt with internally, but it seems she was not afforded that opportunity.
“If members who make complaints in good faith believe they risk having their political careers destroyed simply because their complaint is not upheld, what confidence can anyone have in internal complaints processes?
"Political parties should encourage members to raise concerns through proper channels, not create an environment where people fear retaliation for doing so.
"Australia needs more politicians prepared to show the courage that Moira has displayed. She has been badly let down by the Liberal party because of her mainstream views about protecting girls and women.”
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