The biggest James Ashby scandals laid bare

James Ashby has been exposed trying to bag millions of dollars from the largest gun lobby in the US. But this is just the latest in a string of scandals.

James Ashby is back in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons.

The political adviser has been exposed in secret Al Jazeera footage that revealed he tried to score millions of dollars in foreign donations from the National Rifle Association for the One Nation party last year.

MORE: Hidden camera exposes One Nation

His name has been trending on social media all day. But, as many in the Australian media have pointed out, the 40-year-old is no stranger to scandal:

Some of us were warning you about James Ashby 7 years ago

— Ben Eltham (@beneltham) March 25, 2019

James Ashby is like a cockroach in a backyard dunny. He scuttles here, he scuttles there, recoils from the daylight...

— Mike Carlton (@MikeCarlton01) March 25, 2019

Someone is going to make a lot of money doing an unauthorised biography of James Ashby one day.

— Matt Bevan 🎙 (@MatthewBevan) March 25, 2019

Mr Ashby been linked to physical altercations, dodgy dealings and sexual harassment allegations — some of which date back decades.

ASHBYGATE

Before the Al Jazeera documentary was published, Mr Ashby was best known for the “Ashbygate” political scandal involving federal parliament’s former speaker of the house, Peter Slipper.

The one-time media adviser for the then-Liberal MP for Fisher accused his former boss of sexual harassment in 2012, which Mr Slipper denied, but it led to Mr Slipper’s sensational resignation from the job.

Mr Ashby claimed he had been sexually harassed by Mr Slipper, alleging he made sexual advances and sent suggestive text messages. He also claimed Mr Slipper had asked him to shower with the bathroom door left open in a Canberra unit.

Mr Slipper, in turn, claimed Mr Ashby “gradually introduced into his exchanges … occasional ribald language and sexual innuendo” after he began working in the ex-MP’s office.

Mr Slipper formally resigned in October 2012. Two months later, the Federal Court dismissed the case against him, with Justice Steven Rares ruling that Mr Ashby’s case was an “abuse of process” with the predominant purpose of causing “significant public, reputational and political damage”.

“To allow these proceedings to remain in the court would bring the administration of justice into disrepute among right-thinking people and would be manifestly unfair to Mr Slipper,” Justice Rares said in his judgment.

James Ashby is best known for the scandal that emerged after he accused Peter Slipper of sexual harassment.

Mr Slipper launched an unsuccessful bid for re-election in 2013, and Mr Ashby dropped the sexual harassment case in 2014.

The following year, there was further controversy after police raided Mr Ashby’s home and that of his parents, in an investigation of allegations Mr Ashby had illegally removed Mr Slipper’s official diaries.

After the raids, Mr Ashby agreed to be formally interviewed by police about the diary copy allegations. No charges were ever laid.

Mr Ashby also launched a complaint with the Human Rights Commission, alleging he had been victimised by then-Foreign Minister Bob Carr and then-Nationals Senator Barnaby Joyce.

In the complaint, Mr Ashby’s lawyers argued their client had been subject to repeated attacks on his reputation and integrity, singling out a tweet from Mr Carr describing Mr Ashby as “more rehearsed than a Kabuki actor”. They also complained Mr Joyce had told media he was “only slightly less dodgy than Slipper”.

ALTERCATION WITH EX-ONE NATION SENATOR

Last month, Mr Ashby was involved in a physical altercation with United Australia Party Brian Burston, after Mr Burston made a sexual harassment claim against Pauline Hanson.

Images of the incident showing the pair in a physical clash following Mr Burston’s allegations against Ms Hanson.

James Ashby and Senator Brian Burston clash in Parliament House following an allegation that Burston was the subject of sexual harassment by Pauline Hanson. Picture: Geoff Chambers / The Australian

Mr Burston accused Mr Ashby of a period of prolonged harassment against him and his wife. He claimed Mr Ashby had run up to him as he was leaving a dinner function with his wife, and put a phone close to their faces. “I told him to f**k off,” he said.

Mr Burston claimed Mr Ashby then began pursuing the pair. “I lost it,” he said. “I grabbed him and I pushed him up against the wall.”

Mr Burston reported the incident to the Australian Federal Police but no charges were laid.

Ms Hanson responded to the incident by denying the sexual harassment claim and telling reporters Mr Burston “needs to get some anger management”.

FAILURE TO DECLARE A PLANE

Mr Ashby’s private company, Black Bull Qld Pty Ltd, was charged last August over allegations it failed to co-operate with an investigation into the donation of a plane for One Nation’s election campaign in 2016.

It was claimed that One Nation failed to declare a $100,000 plane given to Mr Ashby and used during the 2015 federal election as a donation.

In December, Mr Ashby admitted to a court that Black Bull Qld had failed to comply with the Australian Electoral Commission’s request to provide information about the plane’s use.

The business copped a conviction and $1000 fine but no charges were brought against Mr Ashby over the incident.

ACCUSED OF PROFITING FROM CANDIDATES

In late 2016, Mr Ashby was accused of “intimidating” One Nation candidates into using two of his printing businesses to make a profit.

Former One Nation treasurer Ian Nelson claimed Mr Ashby improperly profited by using his position as Senator Hanson’s adviser to send business to companies he controlled.

According to the Australian Financial Review, Mr Nelson said candidates feared they would be disendorsed if they didn’t comply.

“Ashby needs to stay right away from the candidates because he’s intimidating them, he’s insisting that they buy his product, which is much dearer than anything else, when these candidates should be able to buy their own from the local constituency,” he said. “In other words if you don’t do it this way well you know what you’re not going to get endorsed. I’ve heard it from the mouths of the candidates.”

Mr Ashby denied the claims to the AFR.

Parliamentary documents revealed at least nine separate payments to Mr Ashby or his company, Coastal Signs and Printing, between November 2016 and March 2017 for printing and communications. The charges were entitlements requested by Senator Hanson, including one by Mr Burston, who was then a One Nation Senator.

The total charges came to $10,187 in taxpayer cash, The Courier-Mail reported.

‘BRAINSTORMING’ PLAN TO CASH IN ON ELECTION MATERIALS

In May 2017, it was revealed that Mr Ashby pitched an idea to charge inflated prices for campaign material.

In a leaked recording during a One Nation brainstorming meeting, he was quoted suggesting a plan to make money from party candidates and taxpayer funding by selling items purchased for the campaign to candidates at inflated prices.

“There is an opportunity for us to make some money on this if we play this smart,” Mr Ashby can be heard telling the meeting.

“I will deny I ever said this but what stops us from getting a middle man or gracing … I am happy to grace in cash, double the price of whatever it is.

“We say to the candidates we will fund 50 per cent of this package. So the package might be $5000. You’re going to pay $2500 and we’ll pay the other $2500 of the $5000.

“The other $2500 is the profit. It’s the fat. And I’ll write it off. I don’t want the cash for it.”

When asked in the recording how they would be making money, he responds: “Because when you lodge the receipt at the full price with the Electoral Commission of Queensland you get back the full amount that’s been issued to you as an invoice.”

Senator Pauline Hanson stood by Mr Ashby after the recording was leaked to the media.

Senator Hanson stood by Mr Ashby after the recording was leaked, blaming it on a “disgruntled” party member.

“Don’t forget that I was at the meeting as well. Don’t forget that you don’t have the full recording of the meeting,” she said.

“We knocked it on the head at the meeting. It didn’t go ahead. It was an issue that was raised and it was knocked on the head there and then.”

Mr Ashby said it was a “poor choice of words” during the meeting, but insisted he wasn’t a liability to the party.

“It’s embarrassing, there’s no doubt about that,” he said. “But let’s not forget that these were secretly recorded conversations in what we thought was an environment where we could safely put any idea on the table and it wouldn’t go any further.

“We’ve never implemented this idea that was put forward and it’s regretful that obviously poor choice of words on my behalf had to be aired in such a manner.”

ALLEGED AFFAIR WITH UNDERAGE BOY

Mr Ashby was investigated by Queensland police in 2012 over allegations he had sex with an underage boy, which he denied.

In July that year, ABC’s 7.30 shared the account of a Queensland man in his mid-20s who claimed he began a relationship with Mr Ashby when he was 15 years old.

The man emailed Mr Slipper shortly after the ex-MP stepped down, claiming they met when Mr Ashby moved to Townsville in 2003. At the time, Mr Ashby was 23. The younger man claimed Mr Ashby left him feeling “used and disgusted with himself”.

In December that year, Queensland Police concluded there was “insufficient evidence” to proceed with charges against Mr Ashby.

“The Queensland Police Service has conducted and concluded an investigation regarding these allegations,” they said in a statement. “As a consequence of that investigation, it has been established that there is insufficient evidence to proceed with criminal charges against any person at this time.”