This was published 6 years ago
Man charged after Liberal Party chicken shop brawl
By Rachel Clun
A man has been charged following a police investigation into a Liberal Party brawl at a chicken and kebab shop in Arncliffe, in Sydney's south.
The fight erupted outside Naji's Charcoal Chicken and Kebabs on Firth Street just before 7pm on June 18, during a meeting of Liberal Party members. The shop is owned by Michael Nagi, a Liberal councillor for Bayside Council.
The brawl erupted during a Liberal Party branch meeting outside a cafe in Arncliffe.Credit: Seven News
Police said when officers arrived they saw a number of people run away, and one man was restrained momentarily before he allegedly pushed an officer and ran off.
A 37-year-old man was taken to St George Hospital with minor facial injuries.
About noon on Tuesday, police searched a home on Wollongong Road at Arncliffe. Two hours later, a 27-year-old man presented himself to St George police station and was arrested.
He was charged with assault occasioning actual bodily harm in the company of others, assaulting an officer in the execution of duty and resisting an officer in the execution of duty.
Granted conditional bail, he will appear at Sutherland Local Court on August 7.
Police inquiries into the brawl are continuing, and the NSW Liberal Party said it would conduct its own internal investigation.
There were conflicting accounts about what started the fight, but the meeting was convened by the Liberal Party’s Bayside Local Government Committee to vote on the admission of the Earlwood-Kingsgrove Young Liberals into its branch.
Following the brawl, the NSW Liberal Party state executive voted to start suspension proceedings against the Bayside Local Government Conference.
"There’s not a lot of love to run Liberals in that part of the world if they’re going to act like that," a state executive member said.
If suspended, the branch would not be able to run members for election in Bayside Council and would not be able to fundraise.