Perin Davey says she didn’t think she was drunk after stumbling in her speech during a parliamentary hearing, days after Barnaby Joyce was filmed lying on a Canberra footpath.
Nationals deputy leader Perin Davey has admitted to drinking but says she didn’t think she was drunk after stumbling in her speech during a parliamentary hearing, days after party colleague Barnaby Joyce was Her admission prompted defence spokesman Andrew Hastie and Communications Minister Michelle Rowland to say they wouldn’t have done the same in parliament, when they were asked about the incident on Sky News on Sunday morning.
However, neither offered support for alcohol and drug testing of MPs.Prime Minister Anthony Albanese urged all MPs to behave responsibly and said Australians would make up their own minds about parliamentarians’ behaviour. “I think that politicians have a responsibility to think about the great honour that we have of representing our electorates,” he said at a press conference in Nowra, on the NSW South Coast. According to the broadcaster, Davey said she went to Nationals staff drinks on Tuesday night, where she had two glasses of red wine before attending a Senate estimates hearing. “I did have a drink,” she has been quoted as saying. “I don’t think I was drunk.” The senator could be seen on footage of the hearing, stumbling through a statement about the arts in which she thanked attendees for giving evidence.“I wouldn’t say I was under the weather. I stumbled over my words. If you want to pick on people who stumble over their words, there are plenty of Labor MPs ,” she said. The scene unfolded four days after news broke of Joyce lying on Lonsdale St in Braddon late at night on February 7, using profanities while speaking to his wife Vikki Campion after having fallen from a bench.to deal with personal issues after the embarrassed New England MP blamed the incident on mixing prescription medication with alcohol. The episode has heightened tensions within the Nationals and prompted a broader conversation in parliament about the standards of behaviour for MPs and ongoing issues relating to alcohol consumption in Parliament House.“My view is: I would not put myself in that position. But again, she has made a statement. I’m not going to argue with it,” Rowland said. “That was actually my department’s committee where she was appearing at and we saw that on the night. We did not say anything about it ... We are judged by a different set of standards and I think that’s the reality.” Speaking to Sky minutes later, Hastie said parliamentarians were held to high standards, and he would not have two glasses of wine before appearing at a committee. He added that he would not comment on Davey specifically before speaking to her first. “I’m not a member of the wowser left or the wowser right. I stand with many Australians in that I enjoy a drink in moderation as part of a normal work-life balance,” he said. Neither agreed with a push by independent MP Zali Steggall for random alcohol and breath testing, with Rowland saying MPs were in the unique position of being answerable to their electorates.he didn’t think drug and alcohol testing in any workplace was necessarily a good idea. “But certainly I think people are justifiably upset at the standard politicians hold themselves to,” he said. Rowland said the culture of parliament was improving, including greater support for MPs and their staff. “I’ve taken it up and I consider that it has helped me learn a lot of techniques. It has helped in my resilience and I think it’s made me a better performer,” she said.
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