Acting Prime Minister Julia Gillard says she is not happy with how the Iguanas restaurant dispute has played out.Ms Gillard says the facts are still in dispute after federal MP Belinda Neal on Tuesday denied she or her husband, NSW Education Minister John Della Bosca, behaved inappropriately at Iguanas Waterfront Bar at Gosford on the NSW Central Coast on Friday night.
"I made it clear yesterday that I'm not happy about any of this, as members of parliament whenever you're out in public, and it doesn't matter whether you think you're there for a public event or a private event, the reality is you're representing the parliament," Ms Gillard told Macquarie Radio.
"All of us have to remember that, and I think this is now a hotly disputed matter where the facts are very unclear.
"We've got statutory declarations on all sides with all different versions, but I think it does stand as a reminder to all of us that there's a standard that the Australian public expects us to live up whenever we're out in public."
She stopped short of calling on Ms Neal to explain her actions.
"Ms Neal has made public statements about what she says happened on that night," Ms Gillard said.
"She obviously rejects the allegations that have been made about her conduct on that night.
"What I would say to Belinda, what I would say to any member of the team, is that people have to make sure that they're acquitting a good standard when they're in the public domain."
It has emerged that MP Belinda Neal was sent off from a soccer match for repeatedly kicking a rival.
Behaving like Trailer park Trash, and still above the law and all its consequences. Denial is everything.
Comments regarded as discriminatory against the common folk.
Police investigating Iguanas stat decs
ReplyDeleteNSW police are investigating the truthfulness of statutory declarations made over a row involving politicians at Gosford's Iguanas Waterfront restaurant, says Police Commissioner Andrew Scipione.
The investigation follows a series of damaging claims that federal MP Belinda Neal and her husband, NSW Education Minister John Della Bosca, threatened and abused staff at the restaurant and nightclub on NSW's Central Coast.
They have denied the claims, producing statutory declarations from dining companions to support their story.
The accusations were originally made by Iguanas staff in statutory declarations, some of which were later withdrawn. Other staff have stood by their stories.
It's an offence to make a false statement in a statutory declaration.
Mr Scipione said police had been provided with copies of all statements to determine if any criminal offence had occurred.
"I've asked that an investigation be commenced and I've referred those matters through to the deputy commissioner and we're now in receipt of all the documents," Mr Scipione told Macquarie Radio on Thursday.
"What we won't do is give a running commentary in terms of where we're going with it, but the reality is that if they investigate it, they will take it from the start to the end and they will look at every component."
Mr Scipione said his staff had been to NSW Opposition Leader Barry O'Farrell's office where they had taken delivery of materials that, he understood, had been passed to the crime manager of the Brisbane Water Local Area Command.
"The investigation is underway," Mr Scipione said.
NSW Police Minister David Campbell said the investigation would be independent and fair. "The NSW police force will deal with this as an operational matter and it is something that I will certainly have no involvement or influence over," Mr Campbell told Macquarie Radio.
ref: http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=578732