Longman by-election: LNP candidate wrongly claimed military medal

THE LNP’s candidate for the Longman by-election says he has apologised to the Prime Minister amid revelations he wrongly claimed to be the recipient of a prestigious military medal.

• LNP, not One Nation, the real competition
• Longman hopeful ‘not fit to sit House’
• Stirring words before battle for Longman
• Hanson puts white supremacist ahead of Labor

THE LNP’s candidate for the Longman by-election says he has apologised to the Prime Minister amid revelations he wrongly claimed to be the recipient of a prestigious military medal.

The Courier-Mail revealed overnight that Trevor Ruthenberg’s publicly available biography on the Queensland Parliament website had stated since 2012 that he was awarded an Australian Service Medal while serving in the Royal Australian Air Force.

But an investigation by The Courier-Mail revealed Mr Ruthenberg, who is the former State MP for Kallangur, had never received the medal.

Speaking on ABC Radio this morning, Mr Ruthenberg said he had spoken to Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and had “apologised to him for this error”.

“The Prime Minister has given me his assurance that he accepts my apology and that he accepts my explanation,” he said.

“I’m not a military impostor. I did serve in the military.

“I believe that when you make a mistake, you stick your hand up and you own the mistake and you do what you need to do to recognise that, and that’s what I’ve done.”

Trevor “Big Trev” Ruthenberg admitted be may have “screwed up” by wrongly claiming he had received a prestige Air Force medal. Picture: AAP/Dave Hunt

Mr Ruthernberg had received the Australian Defence Medal, which is awarded to all military personal after serving four years.

He said he had not gone online to check his State Parliament biography after filling out the relevant form.

“I’m not that infatuated by myself and that’s why it sat there for that long,” he said.

“If I had ever recognised it, I would have picked it up immediately.”

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said Mr Ruthenberg had made an “innocent mistake”, and was “very embarrassed.”

“Big Trev is as honest and straight as he is big – he feels bad about it, he has apologised profusely,” Mr Turnbull told 3AW radio.

“I have spoken to him about it this morning and I am satisfied it is an honest mistake.”

As revealed by The Courier-Mail overnight, the Liberal National Party’s candidate for the crucial Longman by-election wrongly claimed to be the recipient of a prestigious military medal for the past six years.

Trevor “Big Trev” Ruthenberg, the former State MP for Kallangur, yesterday confessed he may have “screwed up” when confronted about his dubious decoration claims by The Courier-Mail.

“If I screwed up then I screwed up and all I can do is apologise,” Mr Ruthenberg said.

“It was certainly not intentional and I respect the uniform way too much to claim I earned something I didn’t.”

The revelation is a bitter blow for the Turnbull administration, which is hoping to be the first government in almost a century to win a seat off an opposition at a by-election on July 28.

Ruthenberg had been the favourite to claim the crucial seat according to a The Courier-Mail ReachTEL poll on June 26 which revealed he was ahead 51-49 (two-party-preferred).

Mr Ruthenberg’s publicly available biography on the State Parliament website has stated since 2012 that he was awarded an Australian Service Medal while serving in the Royal Australian Air Force.

The medal, which was established in 1988, is awarded to military personnel for distinguished service in peacekeeping zones and non-war operations.

The nickel-silver medal ensigned with the Crown of St Edward is awarded by the Governor-General on the recommendation of the Chief of the Defence Force.

An investigation by The Courier-Mail revealed Mr Ruthenberg never received the distinction. However, he did receive the Australian Defence Medal, which is given to all military personal after serving four years.

“I have got absolutely no clue,” he said yesterday.

“I don’t have the source documents. If the source documents are wrong then I apologise for that.”

He also could not explain why he had not identified and corrected the error for more than six years.

“Dead set, you are the first person to have ever asked me about it,” he said. “If I made the mistake, I made the mistake.”

The former RAAF 38 Squadron corporal insisted he remained a dedicated military man and had volunteered his time leading an army cadet unit after serving one term as a state MP.