nothing I think about gets past, gets me past the concern I have that the damage to the team and our prospects is too severe. The Party Room will decide, but I'll put it to them that in the circumstances for the reasons we've gone through today, that's what I'm going to do. If you wanted to, you could resign in the meantime but that's a matter for you, I can't force anything on that front. It would save everyone a whole lot of, you know, the energy that goes into these things but, Moira, I'm going to proceed on that basis. If you do want to resign, let me know, but I propose to advise the Party Room immediately. I won't have a formal motion done, but I will get that out as soon as I possibly can. Again, I'm very sorry it's come to this. But I just don't feel I have a choice. And again, at the risk of repeating myself, it's not personal, I'm putting the team first and I just feel I need to do that. I'm sorry we kept you waiting so long but we did have - we did exhaust every possible angle of the issues, we don't do this with any joy at all, but it's necessary in my view to bring it before the Party Room. In terms of process, when a motion is circulated, it would come from me. I need to move it, I need to give 5 days' notice, so that would – if I can get a notice out tomorrow it would be the business day that, the 5 days excluding any business days. So, I imagine that would be on the Monday or Tuesday but there would be 5 days there and then my understanding of the process is that you'll be given a chance to address the Party Room I think is what happens. I wasn't there when Bernie went through the same thing, but I stress that the reasons for it relate to the matters concerning links of people to self-confessed and self-professed Nazis which we just cannot take that on as a party. We are committed to winning in 2026 and this stuff will ensure that we don't win and I'm already being attacked again on social media but this time by ministers of the government who are already gunning for me this week. It's not going anywhere. So, Moira, I'm sorry it's come to this but that's where I've landed.
188 The meeting ended at around 7pm.
189 Mr Southwick did not tell any of his colleagues in the leadership team that he had recorded the meeting (T999.31–32), and he did not disclose the existence of the recordings to anyone, until he told Mr Pesutto about it either in late 2023 or early 2024 (neither could remember precisely when).
190 When he was asked in cross-examination why he had secretly recorded the meeting, Mr Southwick answered (T998.23–41, T999.25–29):
[T]he events of 18 March was a very triggering event for me. It was, I think, as was just shown in the – in the press conference, one of the darkest days for a member of the Jewish community to be exposed by what we were exposed to. As somebody that has always fought against hate, racism and – and everything that pretty much transpired on that day, it was – it was me that pretty much – and we will go through that, I am sure, in terms of the details of me contacting Ms Deeming. And I had specific expectations of Ms Deeming from that call, and – and it would be fair to say that I was more than disappointed in terms of what actually happened; I was shocked in terms of what actually happened. I felt that from those events, and following from the call, and also later from the – the champagne video and – and the trivialisation of what was the darkest day that I have known in terms of – of hate on the steps of parliament, to behave that way and to trivialise what was so offensive to me, I felt that I couldn't trust Ms Deeming. She – she lied to me, and I felt that I needed to protect myself from what was about to happen, should that happen. And I can say I haven't taped a private conversation with a colleague, but this for me was something that was very personal,
