The Victorian Coalition’s hopes of defeating the Allan Labor government have been handed a blow thanks to an assault accusation levelled by upper house Liberal MP Moira Deeming.
The office of Opposition Leader Jess Wilson was in damage control on Thursday after it emerged Ms Deeming had filed a police report accusing shadow public transport minister Matthew Guy of physically assaulting her.
Mr Guy has strenuously denied any wrongdoing and Sky News host Andrew Bolt said on Thursday that CCTV footage which has emerged of the incident made it “hard to understand” why the accusation had been made.
“It seems to me a joke, Deeming leaning towards Guy at a noisy dinner dance, Guy also leaning in to talk and for a couple of seconds putting his hand on her shoulder,” the Sky News host said.
“I mean, what on earth. Going to police for that less than five months before a make-or-break election.
“Putting the whole Liberal campaign at risk.”
Bolt said it almost appeared the Victorian Liberals “have a death wish”.
The incident is alleged to have occurred on May 23 at the Macedonian Orthodox Youth of Australia 20th anniversary gala dinner, held at a reception centre in Melbourne’s western suburbs.
It was reported to police on June 16, with investigators on Thursday night confirming “there was no offence detected”.
“Police have concluded an investigation following reports of an assault at a function venue on Sommerville Road in Sunshine West on 23 May,” authorities said in a statement.
“Following a thorough investigation, it has been determined there was no offence detected.
“Investigators have engaged with the woman who made the report.”
CCTV footage, seen by SkyNews.com.au, shows Mr Guy seated at a table with Ms Deeming and her staffer while the majority of the attendees are on the dance floor.
At one point, Mr Guy can be seen leaning towards Ms Deeming, who is also leaning in. The shadow transport minister then appears to put his hand on the back of her shoulder and/or neck to bring her closer.
Seated between the pair is Ms Deeming’s male staffer, who had moved his chair slightly backward during the alleged incident.
Immediately after appearing to speak to Ms Deeming, Mr Guy appears to put his hand on the staffer’s shoulder to speak to him.
Moira Deeming’s accusation
In messages sent by Ms Deeming, and obtained by The Australian, the Liberal MP said Mr Guy had put her in “some kind of head lock”.
“A few weeks ago, at a community event, I couldn’t hear something Matt Guy was saying at a table we were seated at. Seated between Guy and myself, was my staffer,” Ms Deeming wrote.
“I couldn’t hear him a second time, so I leaned further in and said: ‘I’m sorry Matthew, just one more time I couldn’t hear’, and I turned my face away to put my ear as close as I could to the direction of his voice.
“Suddenly I felt like someone smashed me in the base of my skull with a wine bottle – but it was Matthew Guy grabbing me violently in some kind of head lock.
“He wouldn’t let me go. He held on the side of my face and had his whole arm round my head and was pulling.
“I thought I was going to be ripped off my chair and have my face smashed into (my staffer’s) lap or the table.”
Ms Deeming said she had tried to pull away from Mr Guy’s grip as her staffer “whipped his chair back immediately”.
“But Guy held me there even though he could feel me pulling away – until he said what I hadn’t heard which was something about ‘what I said was this is the world’s longest song’ and then he just let me go,” she said.
“I was in total shock.
“I sat up and said nothing. I remember feeling humiliated and threatened and degraded. I fixed my hair up and just looked ahead.
“I asked (the staffer) to finish the post he was doing for the event and then said I’d like to leave.”
The Western Metropolitan MP said during the car ride home her staffer repeatedly remarked “how violent” Mr Guy’s physical interaction was.
Ms Deeming’s husband also jumped to his wife’s defence on Thursday.
“As a man – I would never grab a woman by the back of the neck,” Andrew Deeming wrote on X.
“As a manager – if a male staff member grabbed a female staff member by the neck, she wouldn’t need to tell me twice or even go to the police, because he’d be gone by the end of the day.
“And as a husband – keep your f***ing hands off my wife.”
Criticism from fellow Liberals
Other Liberals, though, have jumped to the defence of Mr Guy, branding the accusation “completely fictitious”.
“I’m desperately upset for Matthew… He is the victim in this,” one MP told The Age.
“Moira Deeming has accused Matthew of violently and viciously attacking her, putting her in a headlock at a Macedonian function. The CCTV footage shows the complete opposite.”
Veteran Liberal strategist and public relations expert Kristy McSweeney also criticised Ms Deeming for making the allegation, telling Sky News Australia it appeared to be a “significant overreach”.
“We have all seen the footage at this point,” Ms McSweeney said.
“It’s really, really disappointing that an MP feels that she has to put her own grievance – or whatever motivation she has for doing this – above the electoral unity of the party… five months out from an election.
“Now everybody has to operate within the remit of their own integrity, so they can sleep at night.
“But… it is very disappointing for me, as a conservative woman, to see somebody make allegations against a man that, on the face of it, appear a significant overreach.”
The political strategist said this was particularly the case given Ms Deeming’s platform was women’s rights and a voice for other conservative women.
“If there’s one thing that we like to stand up for, it is that women and men can operate in workplaces together safely,” she said.
“Allegations… have to be investigated absolutely, but some of this overreach that occurs, for whatever reason, is not doing women any favours at all.”
In a statement, Opposition Leader Jess Wilson said the matter was with Victoria Police.
“It would be inappropriate for me to comment further,” she said.
“Like every other Victorian, the parties involved deserve due process, the presumption of innocence and their privacy respected while this is investigated.
“I remain focused on issues that matter to Victorians and earning their trust so our state can have a fresh start in November.”