Sky News host Peta Credlin unleashes on Victorian Liberals and their former leader John Pesutto over $1.55m bailout 'mess'
Mr Pesutto had already raised just over $750,000 in order to help pay off his debt and was pushing for an agreement which would see the Liberal Party, or a party-linked investment fund, loan him the remaining $1.55 million.
The party agreed on Thursday night to loan him the remaining amount, which means he can officially repay Ms Deeming the $2.3 million he owed ahead of the deadline next week, narrowly avoiding bankruptcy in the process.
Watch Peta Credlin's analysis and her full program with a SkyNews.com.au Streaming Subscription.
The Victorian Liberal Party was deeply divided over whether its funds should be used to bail out Mr Pesutto, who was found to have defamed Ms Deeming as someone who 'associates with Nazis'.
Credlin, the former chief of staff to Liberal prime minister Tony Abbott, told viewers on Thursday, before the Victorian Liberal Party held a meeting about the loan, that the money did not come from a bank as Mr Pesutto would not put his home up for security.
She said the funds instead came from party volunteers - the 'unsung heroes of the Victorian Liberal Party' - which directly contradicted Liberal Party President Greg Mirabella and the current incumbent Phil Davis, as well as Mr Pesutto himself, who said not a dollar of Liberal Party funds would be used for legal bills.
Credlin lashed Mr Pesutto and quoted him saying: 'I will not be asking the party to cover any legal fees .'
The Sky News host said Mr Pesutto was a lawyer who 'clearly doesn't keep his word'.
'Worryingly, reports today that Pesutto's successor as leader, Brad Batten, supports this loan not because he's a fan of Pesutto, but because he doesn't want to face a by-election for Pesutto's seat, which will happen if he can't pay his debt and Paz is bankrupted,' Credlin said.
Bankruptcy disqualifies MPs from holding a seat in Parliament in Australia.
Credlin said the motivation to bail out Mr Pesutto was 'fair enough', but added no political party should be 'frightened' of an election.
'Even now, after being out of power for the better part of 25 years, this is the Victorian Liberal Party that is still focused on itself, not the voters who were desperate for change,' Credlini said.
'A party room of malcontents who still are intent on scoring points against each other instead of working together to save Victorians from a government that wants to tax them into oblivion.'
Credlin said Mr Pesutto had gotten himself and the party into a 'mess of his own making' and accused him of being 'spooked' by former premier Daniel Andrews which led him to acting 'irrationally'.
In closing, Credlin addressed Mr Pesutto by his first name and said: 'Sorry John, you've made your bed, now lie in it.'
In a statement, Victorian Liberal Leader Brad Battin said he supported the Party's Administrative Committee to pay Ms Deeming the $1.55 million owed to her by Mr Pesutto to 'satisfy the Federal Court costs order'.
'This decision was not about personalities or past disputes – it was about protecting the interests of the people we serve and ensuring our Party can continue its important work,' Mr Battin said.
'The loan arrangement ensures the Party avoids further financial and reputational damage, allows us to put this matter behind us, and refocuses our efforts where they belong – holding Australia's worst government to account and building a stronger, fairer future for Victoria.'
In a social media post, Ms Deeming posted an image of herself with superimposed words reading: 'They failed to protect her when she was attacked. They punished her for defending herself.'
'They financially profited off her trauma,' the post continued.
'They told the world they did her a favour. This is what institutional abuse looks like.'
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