British anti-transgender activist Kellie-Jay Keen has issued defamation concerns notices against both the ABC and Victorian Liberal leader John Pesutto over comments made in the wake of her Let Women Speak tour of Australia last year.
Keen’s open mike event toured Australia and encouraged women to speak about their concern about transgender women being given access to single sex spaces and participating in women’s sport. The British provocateur describes herself as a women’s rights campaigner.
The seven-city tour of Australia drew protesters at its Sydney, Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide stops ahead of her Melbourne appearance, but it was at her Melbourne event that a neo-Nazi group appeared adjacent to her event creating global headlines.
As her tour moved on to Canberra and Hobart larger groups of vocal protesters drowned out her attempts to stage the event which has been labeled an anti-transgender rally. Keen describes her events as an opportunity for women’s voices to be heard.
The tour was abandoned after she moved on to New Zealand. At her Auckland event Keen was doused in tomato juice and surrounded by protesters, eventually being escorted away by police.
Victorian Liberal MP Moira Deeming spoke at Keen’s event and in the wake of the event Pesutto moved to have her removed from the party room. Keen says the details of a dossier that Pesutto shared with his colleagues was inaccurate in its claims that she had previous associations with far-right groups.
Keen previously issued concerns notices in August 2023. The legal move is the first step in launching a defamation action. Keen, who also goes by the online name Posie Parker, previously gave Pesutto, David Southwick, Georgie Crozier, and Matt Bach 28 days to issue a public apology and pay her compensation.
Her legal move could potential see her joining a similar defamation case launched by Deeming that is currently before the courts. The case is scheduled to be heard in September.
Angie Jones, one of the organisers of the Melbourne Rally, has also issued a concerns notice to the Victorian Opposition leader. Both Keen and Jones are represented by Brisbane-based Alexander Rashidi Lawyers, barrister Bridie Nolan, and former Liberal party candidate Katherine Deves.
Keen alleges that she was defamed by the national broadcaster when 7:30 host Sarah Ferguson interviewed John Pesutto over his move to expel Deeming from the parliamentary Liberal party.
The ABC and John Pesutto’s office have declined to comment.
OIP Staff
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