Suspended Victorian Liberal MP Moira Deeming has vowed to continue defending women’s “safe spaces” as she waits out the punishment meted out by her parliamentary party after attending what some described as an ‘anti-trans rights rally’.
Last month, the upper house MP was suspended from the Victorian Liberal Party for nine months for attending the rally headlined by British campaigner Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshull that was crashed by neo-Nazis who performed Nazi salutes.
Ms Deeming had initially faced expulsion in a move triggered by party leader John Pesutto, before it was withdrawn.
On Tuesday, she confirmed she would “automatically” return to the party.
“This is my party and I’m not going anywhere,” she told Sky News host Peta Credlin.
“I think it’s really important that people understand how the law has changed and that women and girls are really vulnerable now because, you know, the definition of female doesn’t exist clearly anymore.
“So we’ve lost the right to have our female only change rooms without men in them, our female only toilets without men in them.”
Deputy Premier Jacinta Allan had previously criticised Mr Pesutto for only suspending Ms Deeming, saying it showed he had failed to act against hate and bigotry.
Ms Deeming said she accepted the suspension on condition that she would be automatically reinstated and her name cleared.
“It didn’t feel like a victory at the time but … my main goal even was just to clear my family name so I was willing to take that,” she said.
Ms Deeming said she had family ties to the Holocaust through her aunt who was married to a survivor.
“So I grew up often in the company of an actual Holocaust survivor, and I would speak to my auntie about it,” she said.
“I knew that I would be called a bigot and hateful and I knew that that wasn’t true.
“But the one thing I was never ever expecting was to be called a Nazi sympathiser.”
Ms Deeming also revealed she was asked by the federal Liberal Party to keep a low profile ahead of the Aston by-election on April 1, which the party eventually lost to Labor.
“I had been asked by the federals just to lay low until after the by-election, which I did but it was just horrible,” she said.
Asked about Mr Pesutto’s handling of the matter, Ms Deeming said she would address any concerns internally.
“I’m just going to, as always do my best to deal with any Liberal party matters internally,” she said.
