Source : Perth Now news
The future of embattled Victorian Liberal MP Moira Deeming is in doubt after she accused a male colleague of assault.
Ms Deeming alleged Matthew Guy put her in a headlock at function in Sunshine West on May 23, but police investigating the allegation found no offence was detected after they reviewed footage of the incident.
A meeting between Opposition Leader Jess Wilson and Ms Deeming has since been cancelled after the embattled MP refused to apologise to Mr Guy.
The party’s legal affairs spokesman James Newbury said a request was made for her to make an apology.
“Jess Wilson and Matthew Guy asked for an unqualified apology. Moira Deeming released a statement saying that she was not willing to apologise. Therefore, there will not be a meeting between Jess Wilson and Moira Deeming,” he said.
“The party is now working on the next action it will take.”
On Monday, Ms Deeming release a statement through her lawyer saying that she misunderstood the term “headlock” and maintained she acted in good faith to describe what happened.
“A decision by police not to pursue charges is not a finding that a complaint was falsely made,” her lawyer Tim Houweling said.
“The publicly available footage shows Mr Guy pulling her towards him while maintaining a grip around her neck and upper shoulder area as she attempted to pull away, preventing her from freely moving her head for several seconds.
“Without attributing motive to the other party, our client maintains that from her perspective this physical contact by a senior male colleague in the workplace was unexpected, unwelcome, physically painful and caused her to feel fear and confusion.”
Mr Newbury told media, Ms Deeming’s statement was confirmation was given that the allegations used words that were not true.
“I’m not in any way applying motive behind that, other than to say that an admission was made that those words were used which were untrue,” he said.
“The right thing would have been for an apology.
“Moira has said that she’s unwilling to apologise so I think it’s incumbent upon the party to act.”
The Victorian Liberal Party and Ms Deeming have been contacted for comment.
