Mount Gambier Liberal MP Troy Bell charged with theft, using false documents
UPDATED: Charges against former Liberal MP Troy Bell followed an investigation by South Australia’s Independent Commission Against Corruption, Opposition Leader Steven Marshall has revealed.
CHARGES against former Liberal MP Troy Bell followed an investigation by South Australia’s Independent Commission Against Corruption, it can be revealed.
Opposition Leader Steven Marshall fronted reporters in Adelaide on Friday morning after a bombshell report on the front page of today’s Advertiser revealing the sitting member for Mt Gambier, 43, has been charged with allegedly stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars of taxpayer money.
Mr Marshall said Mr Bell offered and the Liberal Party accepted Mr Bell’s resignation on Thursday.
Asked why he did not issue a public statement on Mr Bell’s decision to resign, Mr Marshall said: “Because this was a matter which was before the ICAC and in fact I’ve only just received this morning authorisation from Commissioner Bruce Lander that I can even speak on this matter.”
Mr Bell will appear in court next Tuesday to face 26 criminal charges.
The revelation is a savage blow to the Liberals who are facing what is shaping up to be an extraordinarily close election next March.
The Liberals face the very real prospect of losing the seat to an independent candidate if Mr Bell decides to leave parliament entirely, prior to next year’s state election.
Mr Bell, 43, late on Thursday formally resigned as a member of the Liberal Party after discussions were held with senior party figures. He will not contest next year’s poll as a Liberal candidate.
In a statement, Mr Bell said the allegations “make me feel sick to my stomach and I am in a state of disbelief and shock”.
“I completely deny any dishonesty or wrong doing.”
“I find it incredible that with only 7 months to the next state election, allegations are made dating back 8 years, causing me maximum political damage, and leaving me no time to defend myself.”
“I am not going to run and hide from this, I think the people of Mount Gambier would be disappointed if their member cut and run as soon as the going got tough.”
It has led to calls from Premier Jay Weatherill for Mr Bell to resign from parliament, and said Mr Marshall should urge him to do so.
The Premier said he would have immediately expelled Mr Bell from the party if he was in Mr Marshall’s position.
In a press conference on Friday morning, a visibly upset Mr Bell said it was “disappointing and disturbing” that he had been charged just seven months out from next year’s state election.
He said he couldn’t defend himself publicly while the 26 charges were in the courts and called on the community to trust him.
“I don’t even know what the details of the charges are. I’ve got the summary but I don’t actually know what the details are,” he said.
“At the moment all I can go on is my good name and reputation. I’m innocent of these charges and I will defend them vigorously in the courts.
I’m very confident at the end my name will be cleared, unfortunately that won’t be within seven months and that’s the bit I find really disappointing and disturbing.”
Mr Bell said it was “too early to tell” if he’d run for a second term.
“This has been very traumatic on my family, very traumatic on my staff, as well as myself,” he said.
“There’s a number of things I want to see through to March and I’m giving my commitment to the people of Mt Gambier that I will be continuing to fight.”
“In terms of how I’m feeling in seven months time it will be really up to my community as to how they’re judging my performance up to then.”
Liberal leader Steven Marshall has known about the scandal since Sunday, but remained silent until contacted by The Advertiser on Thursday night.
Mr Marshall this morning said that while Mr Bell was adamant in his innocence, he came to the opinion that he could not run for the Liberal Party at the next election.
“Last thing we needed was Troy trying to contest an election and a court case,” he said.
“Nobody would think it is ideal to have to preselect someone just months out from a state election but we have no choice.”
However, when asked if he felt Mr Bell should remain in Parliament, he said “I do’’ because Mr Bell maintained his innocence and “would vigorously defend the charges against him.’’
Mr Marshall said he had remained silent on the issue because his legal advice was making any statement would breach the secrecy provisions of the ICAC Act and that Mr Bell’s court appearance next Tuesday would have been his trigger for a public statement.
“We took a very close look at the ICAC Act and what we could or could not talk about,’’ he said.
“When asked why his legal advice was in stark contrast to that obtained by The Advertiser, he said “the advice qwe received was that we could not talk.’’
“We could not name him and we could not talk about the fact there had been an ICAC investigation,’’ he said.
“It would have been prejudicial if we had made that announcement to the people of South Australia.’’
Despite stating he was planning to make a public statement after Mr Bell had appeared in court next Tuesday, Mr Marshall said “we moved as quickly as we could.’’
The Liberal Party held a state executive meeting yesterday and have reopened preselection nominations for the seat of Mt Gambier — they will close on September 8.
READ TROY BELL’S FULL STATEMENT
It will be alleged Mr Bell used documents known to be false, with the intention of claiming a benefit for himself.
The charges relate to his former role as manager of an education facility in Mt Gambier prior to being elected as the local member at the 2014 poll.
Mr Bell is only the second sitting South Australian MP to ever be charged with serious criminal offences.
In 2011 then Police Minister Bernard Finnigan was charged with multiple child pornography offences and resigned from Cabinet.
Although kicked out of the Labor Party by his colleagues, he refused to resign from parliament for more than four years.
He finally resigned from parliament in 2015 — but only after finally being found guilty of one count of aggravated accessing child pornography.
Of the 26 charges Mr Bell is facing, 19 are major indictable and will be heard in the District Court. Current backlogs for District Court matters mean it is unlikely to be resolved for at least 18 months.
The Advertiser has learned the allegations involve his role as the former manager of the state government funded educational facility the independent Learning Centre at Mt Gambier.
The Advertiser could not reveal he was charged following an ICAC investigation until Commissioner Bruce Lander QC this morning issued an exemption and named Mr Bell as the person charged.
Mr Bell was the subject of an intensive investigation and the inquiry has been underway for some time. A case file was forwarded to Director of Public Prosecutions Adam Kimber SC for adjudication and last week the decision was made to charge Mr Bell.
The sources said the 20 counts of theft — dishonestly taking property without consent — allegedly occurred between July 9 2009 and May 29, 2012.
The six counts of allegedly aggravated dishonestly dealing with documents occurred between December 8, 2010 and March 18, 2013.
Usually prolific on his electorate Facebook account detailing his public activities and community service, Mr Bell has not posted since July 19. Mr Bell did not return calls on Thursday night, but he issued a statement early today and then spoke briefly to media in Mt Gambier.
Mr Marshall said Mr Bell “submitted and I accepted his resignation from the Parliamentary Liberal Party. He has also resigned as a Member of the Liberal Party to the State Director”.
“Troy advised me earlier in the week that he would be appearing in court next Tuesday on charges relating to an organisation he managed prior to entering the parliament,” he said.
“Given these charges, it was my view that Troy could no longer continue as a Liberal Party MP or as the Liberal candidate for the upcoming state election.”
Liberal Party state president John Olsen did not elaborate at length, but said he became aware of the allegations against Mr Bell on Tuesday.
“The Liberal Party has received the resignation of the member for Mt Gambier Troy Bell,’’ he said.
“As a result we will be reopening preselection nominations for the state seat of Mt Gambier for the next election.’’
Mr Olsen said this would occur “straight away’’ to get the process underway.
Mr Bell is married with three children. He was born in Mt Gambier and completed both his primary and secondary education at local schools before completing a bachelor of education at UniSA. He was a teacher at Port Augusta secondary school before returning to Mt Gambier.
Mr Bell helped establish the ILC in 2007, in conjunction with the Department of Education and Child Development.
Its website states it “is designed to provide a flexible enrolment option for identified students.’’
“The ILC will focus on providing flexible support to keep young people aged 16 to 21 engaged in schooling or on a learning pathway,’’ it states.
Mr Bell was elected to parliament at the 2014 election. He succeeded independent Don Pegler.
He has held various positions in the Liberal party and in January last year he was appointed chair of the Liberal party’s Regional Affairs Committee.
