By Olivia Condous
A Melton councillor has continued to cause a stir, sparking a political protest at a Liberal Party fundraiser event in Tarneit on August 8.
The Victorian Socialist Party staged a protest at a Victorian Liberal Party dinner on Monday evening at Hotel520, with a group of about thirty protestors chanting outside the venue protesting the preselection of Melton councillor Moira Deeming.
Councillor Moira Deeming was officially endorsed for preselection by the Liberal Party for the Western Metropolitan seat last month, sparking backlash due to her anti-abortion and single-sex rights views.
Controversial MP Bernie Finn previously represented the Liberal Party as Western Metropolitan MP but was expelled from the party earlier this year after he posted a string of anti-abortion social media posts.
Victorian Socialist Western Metropolitan candidate Liz Walsh said the main message of the protest was to state that communities of the western suburbs “don’t suffer bigots kindly”.
“We think it’s outrageous that Bernie Finn, who was expelled from the Liberal Party for his reactionary views on women and trans people in particular, has been replaced by someone who’s basically cut from the same cloth,” she said.
“We started on the main road and got lots of great support from locals driving by, lots of beeps, we had banners about defending and extending abortion rights and supporting trans rights.”
In her time as a councillor for Melton, Cr Deeming has been a vocal advocate against transgender people in sport and transgender people accessing single-sex bathrooms.
Cr Deeming is also an event coordinator for the March For The Babies anti-abortion rally, of which Mr Finn is the president.
A video captured by local media outlet WyndhamTV showed a group of protestors standing beside the road shouting anti-Liberal Party chants, including several repetitions of a chant including profanity.
According to Ms Walsh, the venue called on the police to ask the protestors to leave.
The Victorian office of the Liberal Party was contacted for comment.
