Sam Duluk out of the doghouse with parliamentary colleagues as Labor and Liberal MPs elect him chair of a powerful committee

Just months after he was acquitted of assault but branded a “rude, uncouth, drunken pest”, MP Sam Duluk has a lucrative new job in parliament.

Both major South Australian parties have quietly appointed controversial MP Sam Duluk as chairman of an important parliamentary committee, giving him a $23,695 pay rise.

The independent Waite MP, who left the Liberal Party after being accused of slapping fellow MP Connie Bonaros on the bottom at a 2019 Christmas party, is now facing calls to donate his extra pay to charity.

In September, Mr Duluk was acquitted of assaulting Ms Bonaros, but a magistrate described him as a “drunken pest” whose behaviour at the party was “rude, insensitive, uncouth and disrespectful”.

SA Greens MLC Tammy Franks, who was not aware of Mr Duluk’s new role as Public Works Committee chairman until contacted by The Advertiser, said Labor and Liberal should “reflect on the optics of this”.

“If (new Speaker) Dan Cregan can donate his extra pay to charity, I imagine that Sam Duluk could do the same,” Ms Franks said.

Mr Duluk did not say if he would donate his extra pay. The base salary of an MP is $169,250.

Independent MP Sam Duluk outside the Adelaide Magistrates Court, where he was acquitted of assaulting fellow MP Connie Bonaros by slapping her bottom. Picture: NCA NewsWire / David Mariuz

Mr Duluk said the state government, which rules parliament with a minority, nominated him for chair of the lower house Public Works Committee last month.

He denied suggestions the nomination was in exchange for support on legislation under a sweetheart deal, labelling the question “offensive”.

Mr Duluk resigned from all committee duties in January 2020 after concerns about his behaviour at the 2019 Christmas party were made public.

In response to his new role raising eyebrows among some upper house MPs, Mr Duluk said: “Matters around that issue have been well ventilated and they went before a court of law, in which I was acquitted of the charge against me.”

Greens MLC Tammy Franks called on Mr Duluk to donate his pay boost to charity – a precedent set by new Speaker Dan Cregan. Picture: Dean Martin

No MP in the lower house opposed Mr Duluk’s nomination, and members on the committee, including Labor’s Tom Koutsantonis and Joe Szakacs, voted him in.

“I think he is doing a good job as chair,” Mr Koutsantonis said.

“The parliament is now in minority, and the government chairs almost every lower house committee and they shouldn’t anymore.”

Mr Koutsantonis said independent MPs should chair every lower house committee, and believed that the enlarged crossbench had put forward Mr Duluk’s name.

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