Andrew L. Urban
The alleged assault of Moira Deeming by Matthew Guy occurred at the Macedonian Orthodox Youth of Australia 20th anniversary gala dinner at western suburban venue Sheldon Reception on May 23. The incident was reported to police on 16 June. Victoria Police concluded their investigation and detected no offence. Guy has been demanding an apology, Deeming refuses. But neither Guy nor Deeming nor the police have provided any context for what Deeming called an assault.
The timeline throws up at least one immediate question: why was it not reported to police for 24 days? Curiously, why did neither party explain what actually happened and why? And why, oh why, did no journalist ask those questions?
Logic and common sense tell us that whatever occurred must have resulted from some form of disagreement. We can’t make any valid assessment of the incident without knowing what led to it. The foggy video of the incident tells us nothing about the assault, let alone the context.
The details matter because the potential political consequences are considerable, from the results of the coming Victorian election to the future image, and of course turbulence within the Victorian Liberal Party.
Not to mention, the perceived integrity of the two ‘combatants’.