Key Points
- Moira Deeming spoke at British anti-trans activist Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshull's "Let Women Speak" event.
- The rally was attended by members of the National Socialist Movement who repeatedly performed the Nazi salute.
- Victorian Attorney-General Jaclyn Symes said the government would fast-track legislation to ban the Nazi salute.
Victorian Liberal MP Moira Deeming said she will fight to stay in the parliamentary party, after Victorian Liberal leader John Pesutto inferred Ms Deeming knew organisers of an anti-trans rally had established links to neo-Nazis.
Mr Pesutto is seeking to expel her from the parliamentary party after she spoke at British anti-trans activist Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshull's Let Women Speak event outside Victorian parliament on Saturday.
Ms Deeming maintained she had done nothing wrong and would fight to stay in the party.
"My intention is to fight and to remain a member of the team. I hope that my colleagues draw the line and say enough, and that I am able to fight alongside them," she said in a statement.
The rally was attended by members of the National Socialist Movement who repeatedly performed the Nazi salute and held signs calling transgender people offensive names, sparking violent clashes with hundreds of counter-protesters.
Victorian Attorney-General Jaclyn Symes on Monday confirmed the government would expand current legislation banning the Nazi swastika to include the salute, though a change could still be months away.
Police Association of Victoria secretary Wayne Gatt said officers prevented a brawl between the groups but were powerless to stop the actions of the neo-Nazis.
Mr Pesutto said Ms Deeming's expulsion was necessary because of her association with organisers with links to extremists, including neo-Nazis and white supremacists.
Ms Deeming, a former teacher and City of Melton councillor, suggested she wasn't aware of the links when the pair met on Sunday but Mr Pesutto finds that hard to believe.
"I don't think it's open to me to be satisfied that Moira didn't know about their history," he told reporters on Monday.
"It took us all of about 20 minutes or so after the rally on Saturday to investigate the histories of these people."
Police remove a protester during a transgender rights rally, involving opposing neo-Nazi protesters, outside Parliament House in Melbourne, Saturday, 18 March, 2023. Source: AAP / James Ross
"I will never, ever accept any member of the parliamentary Liberal Party under my leadership ever associating with anybody who shares a platform with people who peddle hate, division and attack people for who they are," he said.
In a Facebook live video with organisers after the rally, Ms Deeming said other politicians were in the crowd.
"They didn't come up the front with me but they, to their credit, were there listening," she said.
Mr Pesutto said his advice was that no other Liberal MPs attended the rally but pledged to look into the matter.
Transgender rights supporters are held back by police during a rally, involving opposing neo-Nazi protesters, outside Parliament House in Melbourne. Source: AAP / James Ross
'Done nothing wrong'
The expulsion motion is expected to be put to a vote early next week. Ms Deeming will have the opportunity to plead her case to partyroom colleagues.
In a statement on Twitter, Ms Deeming said, "I have done nothing wrong. Those who organised the Let Women Speak event on the weekend have done nothing wrong. Despite this, a select few members of the Liberal leadership team have condemned me unjustly."
The MP said she intends to fight the motion in a bid to remain a member of the party.
"I hope that when I have the opportunity to present the facts as they occurred, that my colleagues will stand on principle and vote down the motion to have me expelled."
Ms Deeming also said she was disappointed with Victoria Police for letting masked men into the rally buffer zone.
"Police managed to stop hordes of (trans rights activists), but somehow could only walk masked men past us (as) they did a horrible Nazi salute," she said.
Moves to ban Nazi salute
Ms Symes on Monday said expansion of current legislation banning the Nazi swastika to include the salute would ensure Victorians feel safe, welcome and included.
She described the behaviour as disgraceful and cowardly, noting the salute was being used to incite hatred.
"We'll look at how this can be done carefully, with considered consultation with a variety of groups and will have more to say on the details of this legislation as we undertake that," Ms Symes said in a statement on Monday.
Mr Pesutto said the coalition worked with the government to ban the swastika and would do so again with the latest proposal.
"(The Nazi salute) is as much an incitement of hate and violence as the swastika itself."
Police officers 'thrust into melting pot of ideology'
Victoria Police would not comment on the proposed changes, nor did it respond to questions on the alleged actions of officers during Saturday's protest.
Melbourne Activist Legal Support has accused police of discrimination, alleging officers focused their control measures almost exclusively on the pro-trans groups.
There is also video circulating online of a police officer kneeing a person in the head during an arrest.
A Victoria Police spokesperson told AAP there have been no complaints received in relation to that incident.
Mr Gatt at the Police Association of Victoria said the short arrest video lacked context.
"I'm certainly not going to condemn the actions of individual officers who were thrust into quite a volatile melting pot of ideology," he told ABC Radio Melbourne on Monday.
He said officers also felt ashamed they could not act against those who were performing the Nazi salute.
Banning the gesture will give law enforcement personnel the tools to act against neo Nazis, Anti-Defamation Commission chair Dvir Abramovich said.
"There is no perfect cure for the disease of extremism but this law is a first good step," he said in a statement.
