Queensland premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has referred one of her MPs to police over domestic violence allegations.
Cook MP Billy Gordon this morning admitted to Queensland parliament he had only recently paid his ex-partner child support he owed her.
But tonight, the allegations against Mr Gordon deepened, with the revelation his ex-partner had also warned Labor ministers Mr Gordon had been allegedly physically abusive towards her.
As well as the serious nature of the allegations, the situation also has potentially significant political implications.
The Queensland parliament is hung, and Ms Palaszczuk holds minority government only with the conditional support of Independent MP Peter Wellington.
In a letter to Police Commissioner Ian Stewart written late today, Ms Palaszczuk refers the matter to the authorities.
“On 18 March 2015, my office received a letter from (Mr Gordon’s ex-partner) outlining a number of allegations against Mr Billy Gordon, the newly elected Member for Cook in the Queensland parliament,” Ms Palaszczuk wrote.
“Those allegations were immediately referred to Mr Evan Moorhead, State Secretary of the Queensland branch of the Australian Labor Party, who advises me he encouraged (Mr Gordon’s ex-partner) to make a complaint about the alleged conduct to the Queensland Police Service.”
“Since that time, details of the allegations have been made public. In light of this fact, I feel it is now incumbent on me to refer the matters to the Queensland Police Service for its consideration and investigation of the allegations as appropriate.”
“...I ask that you investigate these matters to ascertain whether there is any evidence of the commission of criminal offences.”
Mr Gordon has not responded to calls from The Australian tonight.
This morning, Mr Gordon told parliament he had “moved to immediately rectify” his tax affairs and “ensured any outstanding child support payments have been made to my ex-partner to put this issue beyond doubt”.
Ms Palaszczuk then told parliament she had been “absolutely furious” when she heard of the allegations against her MP.
“I made it fundamentally clear to the Member for Cook: ‘Get your house in order’.”
