Billy Gordon won’t face ethics committee, says Peter Wellington

QUEENSLAND’S Speaker has ruled on whether trouble-prone MP Billy Gordon should be referred to Parliament’s ethics committee.

Member for Cook Billy Gordon has faced fresh allegations about his personal circumstances.

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SPEAKER Peter Wellington has refused to refer allegations about Member for Cook Billy Gordon’s failure to lodge tax returns and pay outstanding child support to Parliament’s Ethics Committee.

In a statement released today, Mr Wellington said Mr Gordon’s claims in March last year that he had addressed these matters were accurate at the time.

One of Mr Gordon’s ex-partners recently lodged a complaint with Mr Wellington about unpaid child support and claimed the Member for Cook may have misled Parliament.

“On the evidence before me, I am satisfied that there is insufficient evidence that the Member for Cook deliberately misled the House on 27 March 2015,” Mr Wellington said.

“Indeed, the evidence before me suggests that the Member had acted to rectify his tax affairs and outstanding child support owing to the relevant ex-partner at the time the statement was made.

“I have, therefore, decided that the matter does not warrant the further attention of the House via the Ethics Committee and I will not be referring the matter.”

Speaker Peter Wellington is satisfied the ethics committee does not need to be involved.

However, the material provided to Mr Wellington by Mr Gordon shows he has not lodged a tax return for the 2014-15 and 2016-17 financial years, during the time he was an MP.

And the documents provided by Mr Gordon’s partner show he has an outstanding child support debt of more than $16,000 despite the MP insisting he’s made proper payment arrangements and was not aware of any issue.

Mr Wellington said he was “left to speculate” why documents from the Child Support Agency provided by Mr Gordon’s ex-partner showed a debt.

“However, these are matters for the CSA and the parties,” he said.

Originally published as Billy Gordon won’t face ethics committee, says Peter Wellington