An ex-Victorian Liberal MP who is now working in the UK may be summoned back to Australia to give evidence at a defamation trial brought against the state's opposition leader.
MP Moira Deeming launched Federal Court action against John Pesutto in 2023, over allegations he publicly accused her of being a Nazi sympathiser and used the claim to bully and threaten her with expulsion.
Ms Deeming was expelled from the Liberal Party after taking part in the Let Women Speak rally which was gatecrashed by masked men performing Nazi salutes in March 2023.
Matt Bach was deputy leader of the opposition in the upper house at the time and reportedly at a meeting involving the party’s leadership team the day after the rally.
Dr Bach abruptly left politics at the end of 2023 to return to his career in education, taking up a role as assistant headmaster at Brighton College in southern England.
The court heard on Friday that Dr Bach’s evidence could be critical to the trial as a witness to what took place at several key events.
But Justice David O’Callaghan said it would be "highly undesirable" for him to give evidence via video link despite living overseas, meaning he may have to return to Australia.
"That combined with the unreliability of the technology, as much as we’d like to imagine it’s flawless, it simply isn’t," he said.
Mr Pesutto told reporters on Friday his legal team were preparing for the trial to proceed as planned when asked if there was a pathway to settle the case.
Mediation negotiations between the pair broke down in 2023 over Ms Deeming's demand to return to the Liberal party room without conditions.
Mr Pesutto maintains he never accused the now-independent MP of being a Nazi or having Nazi sympathies.
He has already reached settlements with rally speaker Kellie-Jay Keen and organiser Angela Jones, issuing both women a public apology.
The defamation trial is set to begin on September 16 and is listed to run for 15 days.
