Explosive allegations against MP revealed

An expelled Liberal National MP has hit back at his colleagues for airing sexual harassment allegations against him in State Parliament insisting the claims are untrue and made him feel sick.

WHITSUNDAY MP Jason Costigan has hit back at his colleagues for airing allegations against him in State Parliament insisting the claims are untrue and made him feel sick.

Harassment allegations levelled at the dumped Liberal National MP were detailed in Parliament by a former party colleague, including that he followed the 18-year-old woman at the centre of the complaint into her bedroom and closed the door behind him, touching her back and her hair.

Leader of Opposition Business Jarrod Bleijie told the House under parliamentary privilege that the 18-year-old girl – whose complaint ultimately led to Mr Costigan’s expulsion from the party this month – alleged she dropped a pair of underwear in her rush to leave and the MP picked them up and said he liked them.

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“Some of my parliamentary colleagues have seen fit to use parliamentary privilege to make accusations that they would not have the guts to make outside the House,” he told The Courier-Mail.

“That should tell the people of Whitsunday and anyone else all they need to know.

“I deny any suggestion that I acted inappropriately towards the young woman in question.

“The accusations made in Parliament today make me sick.

“As I have said previously, I was at that residence by invitation. When I initially met the young lady, yes, I was not wearing a shirt. I had not expected her or anyone for that matter to be there but almost immediately, I went and put on one of my footy jerseys.

“I didn’t touch her hair, her back, nothing, absolutely nothing, aside from when she happily posed with me for those selfies.

“What’s been said in relation to this young lady is lies, fantasy or things that have been taken way of context to say the least.

“As I have previously said, I intend to pursue damages for defamation. No doubt that is why my former LNP colleagues have used parliamentary privilege to defame me, rather than having the courage to make their statements outside the House.”

Mr Costigan has denied the allegations.

“When she arrived at the property, she didn’t know he was there,” Mr Bleijie told the House.

“She didn’t know who he was or why he was in her grandparents’ home.

“He met her in the living room before following her into her bedroom.

“He was half-naked, having just had a shower.

“He closed the door behind her when they entered the room.

“He touched her on the back and stroked her hair.

“She didn’t ask him or invite him to touch her.

“He told her she was pretty.

“He told her he liked young girls.

“He told her she should come to the Whitsundays to visit him and he would pay for her flights.

“He pressured her into taking selfies with him.

“She panicked.

“She frantically gathered her belongings to get out as quickly as possible.

“In her rush, a piece of her underwear fell to the ground.

“He picked up the fallen underwear.

“He turned it over in his hands and told her he liked it.

“She grabbed her things and got out.

“In the initial complaint from the mother of the young woman said she feared she would be raped on the remote property by the Member for Whitsunday.

“It was a traumatic experience for this young woman.”

Member for Whitsunday Jason Costigan addresses the allegations prior to being dumped by the LNP.

Mr Bleijie told the House numerous other complainants had come forward since Mr Costigan was expelled from the LNP.

“Another young woman has made a formal complaint of harassment of a sexual nature and stalking to the LNP about the member,” Mr Bleijie told the House.

“Another woman has come forward to say she witnessed the member sexually assault her friend at a music festival.

“She described him walking through a crowd.

“She saw the member look at her friend.

“She thinks he targeted her because he knew she had recently separated from her husband.

“He approached her from behind and rubbed himself against her.

“She wheeled around and told him to go away.

“Another woman has come forward to say she has screenshots of SMS messages the member sent to a then 16-year-old-girl.

“Messages which contain explicit and sexually suggestive lines about how she made him feel.

“Another woman has told us of his leering and staring at a 17-year-old waitress to the point that she hid whenever he entered the cafe.

“The cafe manager intervened to protect the 17 year-old waitress from the unwanted attention from the Member of the Whitsunday.

“The young women in the first complaint was so scared by the conduct of the Member for Whitsunday she has made a complaint to the police.

“The member doesn’t meet the high standards of the LNP, the people of the Whitsundays deserve better.”

The shock new details were aired by Jarrod Bleijie.

Mr Costigan has previously described the allegations as a”stitch-up”, and a smearing of his name.

He insisted he put a football jersey on the minute he discovered the young girl had arrived.

“I’ve done nothing wrong. There’s been no misconduct and these are baseless allegations. I can look at you all in the eye and say it’s utter crap,” he told journalists earlier this month.

“She was there for about half an hour or so and nothing bad happened, nothing sinister happened.”

Mr Costigan had arranged to stay at the remote Victorian property last month via contact with a member of the family via Facebook.

He had arrived in the early hours of January 23.

The family had not told the 18-year-old of his presence, as they expected him to have vacated the property before she was to arrive.

He showed a selfie taken with the girl to journalists earlier this month as he denied the allegations.

The MP was due to start the parliamentary week on the crossbench following his dumping by the LNP, but Speaker Curtis Pitt revealed this morning that he had taken leave.

He was officially stripped of his committee position this morning with deputy opposition whip Mark Boothman given his spot.

Member for Whitsunday Jason Costigan shows a selfie taken with the complainant.