28 In February 2008, upon the birth of their first child, Mr and Mrs Deeming let their membership of the Liberal Party lapse, for want of time.
29 Inspired by a talk which they attended by Mr John Anderson AC, they rejoined the Liberal Party in early 2014. That same year, Mrs Deeming was asked to run for the Liberal Party in the upcoming Victorian state election.
30 She was preselected for the seat of St Albans and ran, unsuccessfully. She achieved 32.5% of the two party preferred vote.
31 In 2018, Mrs Deeming was encouraged by a number of Liberal Party members to run for the number two "spot" for the Western Metropolitan Region in that year's election. She was not successful, but instead accepted the unwinnable third spot. She campaigned for the Liberal Party in all 11 seats in that region.
32 In 2020, Mrs Deeming won election as a councillor in the City of Melton, where she served until 2022. She gave evidence that she used her position to seek to foster Liberal Party values in the political sphere, as a known Liberal Party member, and "networked with many people and organisations across the political spectrum, including to attempt to build a working political consensus around the protection and reinstatement of sex-based rights".
33 In March 2022, Mrs Deeming unsuccessfully sought endorsement as the Liberal Party candidate for the Federal Electoral Division of Gorton.
34 She was pre-selected, but not endorsed, because, according to evidence given by Ms Crozier, the then Prime Minister, Mr Scott Morrison, thought her views on some social issues were considered too extreme and politically risky.
35 On 23 July 2022, Mrs Deeming was selected by delegates at a Preselection Convention as the Liberal candidate for the Western Metropolitan Region for the November 2022 Victorian state election.
36 Later that month, the Liberal Party of Australia's Administrative Committee (Victorian Division) met, including to determine whether to endorse the delegates' selection of Mrs Deeming.
37 Mrs Deeming was endorsed, but not unanimously. Ms Staley, who at the time was the Member for Ripon, and Mr Michael Kroger, the Immediate Past President of the Division, voted not to endorse her.
