MP Russell Northe ‘has nothing’ after running up $750K in debts
Battling depression, dealing with family issues and trying to represent his electorate of Morwell became too much for Victorian MP Russell Northe in 2017. And when his gambling debts got out of control, it all came crashing down.
VIC News
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On his darkest days, Victorian MP Russell Northe would sit alone on his phone placing bets.
It was always the horses that he turned to when things got bad, usually accompanied with alcohol.
Battling depression, dealing with a long-running family issue and trying to represent his electorate of Morwell, everything came crashing down in 2017.
His debts mounted as he turned to friends, Latrobe Valley constituents and even National Party members for loans — including $30,000 from party leader Peter Walsh.
He amassed $750,000 in debts to more than 30 people — almost half of which he lost gambling.
As the scandal became public in 2017, Mr Northe quit the party, but stayed in parliament as an independent and began the long road to recovery.
“I have got nothing and I’ve only got myself to blame,” he told the Herald Sun this week.
“It’s hard when you have got to live with it everyday to understand what you have done.
“I am still getting help and counselling, but it’s a situation that is difficult.
“I had to sell my family home. I look back and think, ‘What the hell happened?’
“It all built up and I didn’t realise I was struggling. I was very unwell and my outlet was to drink too much and gamble.”
Mr Northe said he sometimes punted $1000 a race and gambling came with fierce highs and lows.
“A few people approached me, but it took a couple of people to grab me by the throat and chuck me up against the wall.
“They were saying, ‘What’s going on?’ and could obviously see I was in a bad place.
“When the realisation hit, I did totally collapse.”
Stepping away from parliament on stress leave, Mr Northe began counselling but returned to run in the 2018 election as an independent, winning the seat with 19.56 per cent of the primary vote.
Despite concerns from interested parties that he had recently relapsed, Mr Northe denied having been to any TABs and said he is staying away from betting apps.
When it comes to his debts, he said selling his family home helped pay off half of what he owed. He was also putting away about a third of his parliamentary pay cheque each week to continue paying off his debts.
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There is also the matter of an ongoing police investigation into the National Party’s Morwell bank account after an audit found $8000 appeared to have been withdrawn with questionable paperwork, but later returned.
Mr Northe said he was using his downfall “for good”.
“I do some work with Lifeline and some other mental health organisations,” he said.
Mr Northe said the crisis had grounded him but admitted he still had a long way to go to earn back people’s trust.