Ex-Chief Minister Natasha Fyles gives evidence in Suzi Milgate cream crepe hearing
An anti-vaxxer who slapped the Chief Minister with a cream crepe has tried to downplay the alleged assault. ‘How can you get a sharp bit of cream? Just a bit more than a bird s—t’.
Northern Territory
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An anti-vaxxer who slapped the Northern Territory Chief Minister in the face with a ‘fresh cream crepe’ has claimed she was the ‘victim’ of a vast conspiracy to destroy her life.
Former Darwin real estate agent Suzanne Lee Milgate faced Darwin Local Court on Wednesday to contest an aggravated assault charge against then-Chief Natasha Fyles on Sunday, September 24, 2023.
Ms Milgate has admitted she threw the cream crepe at Ms Fyles, but denied thedessert was a “weapon” or that it caused her any injuries.
However, for the first time, the former chief minister has revealed her “shock” and “pain” after being attacked by a stranger at her local Nightcliff markets in front of one of her children.
Ms Fyles said she was leaving an event at the Bendigo Bank when she was suddenly “whacked in the face” with force by a stranger.
Still in shock and covered in an “unknown liquid”, Ms Fyles said she realised a woman was filming her as her “well dressed” attacker called something out.
Ms Fyles told the court that later that day her eye was “stinging” and sore, and by the next day there was obvious swelling and bruising to the cheekbone under her left eye.
Ms Milgate accused her alleged victim of faking her injuries and even hurting herself — which Ms Fyles flatly denied.
The former real estate agent repeatedly tried to downplay the severity of the crepe assault, claiming it was “a gesture of humour” exactly the same as comedy routines in ‘Hey Hey It’s Saturday’ or the ‘Marx Brothers’.
“Everyone would be laughing at a cream pie,” Ms Milgate said.
Outside the court the real estate agent told the media: “How can you get a sharp bit of cream? It was just a bit more than a bird s—t”.
But Ms Fyles maintained it had fundemendally shifted how Territory politicians on all sides interacted with their community.
“What happened to me that day was not acceptable, it was an act of violence,” Ms Fyles said.
“It is one of the few attacks on politicians in Australia — physical attacks — and it had a huge impact.”
Ms Milgate revealed the alleged attack was because the Health Minister’s office had rebuffed her email request for a vaccine mandate exemption two-and-a-half years earlier.
Through tears, Ms Milgate claimed due to the vaccine mandate her husband was denied heart surgery following his stroke.
“I’m the victim here because she rolled out the vaccine that almost cost my husband’s life,” she said.
Ms Milgate claimed she was “overcome with emotion” and in a “spur of the moment” lined up, bought a cream crepe, handed her phone for another woman to film before she then allegedly slapped the then chief minister.
Ms Milgate, who represented herself, was repeatedly told by Judge Julie Franz not to ask “disrespectful”, “vague”, “broad” or completely unrelated questions of her alleged victim over the course of the lengthy 90-minute hearing.
Ms Milgate repeatedly tried to ask Ms Fyles about her role as NT Health Minister during the pandemic, claiming the mandated “bioweapon” vaccines meant “half the businesses have been lost and half the people have lost their lives”.
She also alleged Ms Fyles orchestrated a vast conspiracy — “organising” her arrest, enforcing the charges, and “paid off” tenants who lodged complaints in the NT Civil and Administrative Tribunal — as “revenge” for the crepe assault.
“She took out my entire business and my livelihood...in spite, in vengeance,” Ms Milgate said.
Ms Fyles flatly denied these allegations, indeed saying she made a conscious effort to not publicly comment on the matter and allow the “due process” through the courts.
Ms Franz adjourned the hearing to November 8, as there were still four more witnesses to be heard.
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