Broadwater MP Verity Barton ‘mortified’ at thought of ‘unknowingly’ driving without a licence

A “MORTIFIED” Verity Barton has admitted to ­“unknowingly” driving ­unlicensed after the Premier let slip she had committed the offence.

A “MORTIFIED” Verity Barton has admitted to ­“unknowingly” driving ­unlicensed after the Premier let slip she had committed the offence.

The embattled MP, who is recontesting her narrowly-held Gold Coast seat, admitted on Thursday that she’d had her licence suspended twice for failing to pay tolls and subsequent fines in 2012 and 2013.

But until Campbell Newman confirmed to reporters on the campaign trail in Townsville yesterday that she had also driven unlicensed, Ms Barton made no mention of the offence, which carries a maximum penalty of a year in jail.

Speaking to the Bulletin yesterday, Ms Barton, who said the party had known about her predicament for “some time” promised there were no other skeletons in her closet.

“I’m laying my soul to you. As I say, I made a mistake and it’s something I’m really disappointed about and wholeheartedly sorry for,” she said. Even now when I go through toll roads I turn my radio down and make sure the tag pings.”

Broadwater MP Verity Barton during question time in Queensland parliament.

Ms Barton said she had the confidence of the party and leadership team.

“I’m now just focused between now and the 31st of January about what it is we’ve done over the past three years, but also what our plans are.

“I’m just so mortified and really disappointed in myself because I have worked really hard over the past three years putting my heart and soul into this community and making sure they have a strong voice in parliament.”

Mr Newman yesterday described Ms Barton as “a young first-term backbencher”. When asked by a reporter “did she drive ­unlicensed Premier?”, Mr Newman replied “Well, that’s what she has ‘fessed up to, yes.”

The Premier said he still had confidence in the first-term MP, even though “she has made some mistakes”.

“She has never let her electorate down. She has never let the people of Broadwater down,” he said.

“And so when I weigh it all up, I have confidence in her continuing as a member of the team.”

A police spokesman said officers were unlikely to pursue charges against Ms Barton as they could not prove which times, dates or locations she drove.

“We have to prove every element of a charge — and first we would need a complaint,” he said.

“But if somebody lodged a complaint we would have to investigate it.”

Ms Barton, a member of the Parliamentary Committee for Legal Affairs and Community Safety, spoke strongly in parliament in 2013 against hoons who flouted traffic laws.

She commended changes to anti-hooning legislation that would see police spend less time preparing traffic cases for court.

“We all know how hardworking our QPS officers are and anything that we can do to make the burdens of their job a little bit easier and a little bit less are, in my opinion, a good thing,” she said.