Geoff Shaw, the man who almost brought the Victorian government to its knees

HE’S not afraid of a punch-up, allegedly taunted colleagues with a masturbation gesture and misused his benefits. Meet the MP they want out of Victorian parliament.

Geoff Shaw speaks to media about the charges that have been dropped outside his Frankston offices Picture Norm Oorloff

GEOFF Shaw is not afraid of a punch-up, allegedly taunted his colleagues with a masturbation gesture and misused parliamentary benefits.

These are some of the controversies surrounding the man who almost brought the Victorian government to its knees.

GUILTY OF ASSAULT

Before he was elected as a state MP, Geoff Shaw worked as a bouncer at 21st Century nightclub in Frankston. In 1992 he was found guilty of unlawful assault after leaving a man with broken ribs and cuts. The victim’s wife said she saw her husband being thrown down two flights of stairs.

“They were beating the living daylights out of him,” she said. “Geoff Shaw picked me up and threw me in the gutter.”

While the magistrate decided Mr Shaw was guilty, he ordered that no conviction be recorded. Mr Shaw paid costs of $400, contributed $500 to a court fund and was placed on a $2000 bond for 12 months.

His victim said Mr Shaw should have had a conviction recorded, but “I guess everybody makes mistakes”.

Everyone makes mistakes: The club where Geoff Shaw once worked.

DEEPLY RELIGIOUS AND CONSERVATIVE

During his first speech in parliament, Mr Shaw snubbed the traditional “welcome to country” that respects the Aboriginal people as traditional custodians of the land. Instead he acknowledged the original owner as: “God, the Creator, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of the Bible”.

In 2011 Mr Shaw, who is a member of a Pentecostal church, was forced to apologise for comments he made to a gay constituent likening homosexuality to child molestation and dangerous driving.

“What if I loved driving 150km per hour in residential areas?” he wrote to a gay man who objected to religious organisations being able to discriminate on grounds of sexuality and gender.

“What if there was a convicted sex offender who stated that, or a child molester? Can they still do what they want? Under your statement the answer is yes. What if one wanted to get drunk, take drugs, steal and murder? What if one loved this? Can they also do what they want without thinking that they can’t?’’

This year he planned to push for reform abortion laws by introducing into parliament a bill for six radical changes including provisions for doctors to provide pain relief for foetuses and resuscitate babies who survived abortion attempts.

Conservative: Geoff Shaw does not support gay marriage or abortion. Picture: Norm Oorloff

SCUFFLE WITH TAXI DRIVERS

Four taxi drivers were charged over an alleged attack on Mr Shaw late last year. The cabbies were rallying against the government’s changes to the taxi licensing system when they say they were heckled by Mr Shaw as he walked into parliament. This turned into a scuffle on the steps of parliament house.

Mr Shaw was not charged over the incident, but has been accused of provoking the attack.

The court case is continuing with the cabbies saying they plan to contest the charges.

Video stills of the moment Frankston MP Geoff Shaw was involved in a brawl with taxi protesters.

ACCUSED OF SIMULATING MASTURBATION IN PARLIAMENT

Footage appeared to back a claim from five Labor MPs that Mr Shaw made a rude gesture in parliament and labelled them “wankers” across the chamber. Mr Shaw denies this and said he was pointing and saying “whackers”. Then premier Ted Baillieu said the video was inconclusive.

Innocent: Denied he made masturbation gestures in parliament. Picture: Ian Currie

COMPLICATED LOVE LIFE

In 2012 he admitted he was wrong to put up a sign on a busy road pleading his ex-wife to forgive him. The year before police were called to their home over a domestic dispute.

The sign was repeatedly put up on a busy road near his former family home saying: “Please forgive me, I love you Sally: Psalm 42:1”.

MISUSE OF PARLIAMENTARY BENEFITS

This year Mr Shaw was ordered to repay $6838 after the Victorian Ombudsman found he had misused his taxpayer-funded car and fuel card. Mr Shaw clocked up 8000km on his taxpayer-funded vehicle, which was used to make delivery runs for his hardware business as far as Albury, Sale and Adelaide.

His parliamentary logbook was incorrectly filled out to indicate his parliamentary car was being used for private use, when it was actually being used for business.

At least $1350 in fuel was also used for business and personal use.

Mr Shaw denied he knew his car was being used for commercial purposes and the privileges committee stopped short of recommending that he be censured, which could have led to a suspension from parliament, because it was unable to say that Mr Shaw had been “wilful in contravening the code of conduct”.

Fraud charges were later dropped.

A billboard being driven around Frankston drawing attention to criminal charges Mr Shaw faced over misuse of his government credit card and card which were later dropped.

Former Premier Ted Ballieu ordered the investigation in 2012 following a Herald Sun report. In the same year Mr Shaw faced an Australian Tax office investigation amid claims he short-changed an employee and underpaid debts to mum and dad investors who lost hundreds of thousands of dollars through his accounting and financial counselling business.

Mr Shaw said he always planned to pay investors but had spread payments out to cope with cashflow issues.

Also in 2012 it was revealed he failed to properly disclose interests in a private company, breaching the parliament’s register of interests laws.

HAILED A HERO, LEFT TRAIL OF CARNAGE FOR LIBERAL PARTY

A 6.8 per cent swing in his favour in 2010 gave Mr Shaw his Frankston seat, which had been held since 2002 by the ALP’s Alistair Harkness.

The Liberal Party under Ted Baillieu held government by a single seat and the former premier continued to back the MP despite several controversies.

However, when he was found guilty of misusing his car and fuel card, Mr Shaw resigned from the parliamentary Liberal Party in March, 2013 and then the party itself to avoid being expelled. He has since voted as an independent.

Independent: Geoff Shaw left the Liberal Party last year. Picture: Norm Oorloff

Mr Baillieu stepped aside from the leadership when Mr Shaw’s vote was in doubt, and so did former speaker Ken Smith, who Mr Shaw ridiculed for having lost control of the Legislative Assembly.

The former speaker is now threatening to vote with Labor to overturn a recommendation of the privileges committee that Mr Shaw only be fined, and not censured, for misusing his car and fuel card.

This has led to the current crisis, with Mr Shaw reportedly furious that current Premier Dennis Napthine has not stopped the former speaker from voting with Labor, which could potentially lead to him being suspended or expelled.

Mr Shaw declared that he would back any Labor no-confidence motion against the coalition government but Labor has rejected his support. Opposition Leader Daniel Andrews said today he’d instead push for Mr Shaw to be expelled from parliament.