Victorian Liberal MP Moira Deeming has refused to apologise to former opposition leader Matthew Guy after police closed an investigation into her complaint and found no offence had been detected.
The escalating dispute has deepened internal tensions within the Victorian Liberal Party, with Mr Guy demanding a public apology and Ms Deeming insisting, through her lawyer, that her complaint was made honestly and in good faith.
The matter relates to a community dinner in Sunshine on May 23, attended by both Liberal MPs. Ms Deeming alleged Mr Guy had placed her in what she described as a headlock during the event.
Victoria Police later closed its investigation, saying that after a thorough review, no offence had been detected.
CCTV footage of the interaction, published by The Australia Today, appeared to show Mr Guy reaching towards Ms Deeming while seated at the crowded function. Mr Guy has strongly denied assaulting her and said the footage supported his position.
“There is no ambiguity. I did not do what was alleged,” Mr Guy said last week, calling for apologies from Ms Deeming, Premier Jacinta Allan and Attorney-General Sonja Kilkenny.
“My family name, my reputation, is not a political toy. No-one’s is.”
However, Ms Deeming has now pushed back against claims that her police complaint was false.
In a statement issued through her lawyer Tim Houweling, Ms Deeming rejected any suggestion she had made a false complaint and said she would not apologise for “something she has not done”.
Mr Houweling said a police decision not to pursue charges was not the same as a finding that a complaint had been falsely made.
He said Ms Deeming’s complaint was made “honestly, in good faith and only as a matter of last resort” after attempts to resolve the incident confidentially through internal Liberal Party processes were unsuccessful.
According to the statement, Ms Deeming was advised by senior Liberal Party officials to report the matter to Victoria Police for independent assessment.
The statement also said Ms Deeming had misunderstood the technical meaning of the term “headlock” when she used it to describe the incident.
But she maintained that, from her perspective, the physical contact was unexpected, unwelcome, painful and caused her fear and confusion.
The statement said the incident had been compounded by Ms Deeming’s personal history of trauma and PTSD.
Mr Houweling said Ms Deeming did not wish to attribute motive to Mr Guy, but continued to maintain that the contact was inappropriate and distressing from her perspective.
The dispute now places Opposition Leader Jess Wilson in a politically difficult position just months before the Victorian election.
Ms Wilson has publicly supported Mr Guy’s request for an apology, saying he had gone through a distressing ordeal. She has also said she intends to speak with Ms Deeming when she returns to Melbourne.
The timing could hardly be worse for the Liberal Party, which has been attempting to present itself as a disciplined alternative government after years of instability, factional disputes and damaging internal fights.
Instead, the episode has again thrown the party into crisis management, reviving questions about whether the Liberals can keep their focus on the Allan government at a time when Labor is facing pressure over cost of living, debt, infrastructure blowouts and community safety.
The political stakes are high. Recent polling has suggested Labor’s support has weakened, while the Coalition is attempting to position itself as a government-in-waiting. But internal conflict risks undermining that message and handing ammunition to Labor, the Greens, independents and One Nation.
The dispute is also complicated by Ms Deeming’s fraught history with the Victorian Liberal Party.
She was previously expelled from the parliamentary party room under former leader John Pesutto after attending a women’s rights rally that was gatecrashed by neo-Nazis. Ms Deeming later won a defamation case against Mr Pesutto, with the Federal Court finding she had been defamed.
Her return to the Liberal fold was meant to help close a bitter chapter in the party’s recent history. Instead, the new clash with Mr Guy has reopened old wounds and created fresh uncertainty about her future in the party room.
For Mr Guy, the matter has become a question of reputation and due process. He has argued that allegations of this nature cause serious personal and professional harm, even when no charges are laid.
His supporters say the CCTV footage and police outcome should end the matter and that he deserves a clear apology.
For Ms Deeming, the issue is being framed differently: as the right of a complainant to report concerns without being accused of wrongdoing simply because police do not proceed with charges.
Her lawyer’s statement warned that equating a no-charge outcome with a false complaint could discourage people from raising workplace or safety concerns in the future.
That leaves the Liberal Party caught between two politically explosive principles: the presumption of innocence for a man publicly accused of wrongdoing, and the right of a woman to make a complaint she says was based on her honest recollection.
The legal questions may now be over, at least as far as Victoria Police is concerned. But the political fallout is far from settled.
Mr Guy wants an apology. Ms Deeming says she will not provide one. Ms Wilson now faces the task of stopping the matter from becoming another symbol of Liberal division at the exact moment the party is trying to convince Victorians it is ready to govern.
Support our Journalism
No-nonsense journalism. No paywalls. Whether you’re in Australia, the UK, Canada, the USA, or India, you can support The Australia Today by taking a paid subscription via Patreon or donating via PayPal — and help keep honest, fearless journalism alive.
