Opposition Leader John Pesutto has admitted he shared aspects of settlement negotiations with former premier Jeff Kennett and other Liberal MPs to reassure them he was not acting unreasonably in the defamation action launched by Moira Deeming.

In a second day of cross-examination in the Federal Court on Wednesday, Deeming’s barrister Sue Chrysanthou, SC, pressed Pesutto on whether he was behind media reporting about negotiations he was having with Deeming that ultimately fell over.

Pesutto said he had not shared aspects of the negotiations with the media but conceded he felt he needed to address an incorrect narrative that he wasn’t doing his best to settle the case.

He said he told Kennett, who has donated to Pesutto’s legal fees, and other Liberal figures because he had to maintain the confidence of the party room and senior Liberal figures.

“I felt it was necessary, given my role,” Pesutto told the court on day eight of the defamation trial. “This is a very unusual situation.”

Chrysanthou also questioned Pesutto on whether he had leaked the dossier created to justify Deeming’s expulsion to Liberal stalwart Michael Kroger, a former state party president, so he could speak to it on Sky News in March last year.

Chrysanthou asked Pesutto if he considered Kroger a friend.

“We’re not besties, your honour,” Pesutto told the court. But he agreed they had known each other for years even if they “run in different lanes”.