Steve Edgington was in business with man convicted of domestic violence
Shadow DV Minister Steve Edgington is stepping down from his portfolio after fresh revelations he went into business with a domestic violence perpetrator.
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Barkly MLA Steve Edgington has resigned as Shadow Domestic Violence Minister after it was revealed he went into business with former Country Liberal Party president Jason Newman just three months after Mr Newman pleaded guilty to aggravated assault against his wife.
Mr Edgington – who remains in the CLP cabinet with support from his party – stood by his record in advocating for domestic violence services, but said he would “not let a job title distract debate”.
It follows reports on Wednesday that Mr Edgington hired staffer Darius Plummer to his electorate office in August, knowing Mr Plummer had recently been jailed for two domestic violence order breaches.
Records show property investment company Edgington Newman Pty Ltd was registered in May 2016 and jointly owned by Mr Edgington and Mr Newman until its deregistration in May last year.
In February 2016 Mr Newman was found guilty of assaulting his wife and of breaching a domestic violence.
He received a good behaviour bond and was fined $700, with no convictions recorded.
Within three hours of his relationship with Mr Newman being made public, Mr Edgington announced he was stepping down from his portfolio.
“This afternoon I have notified the Leader of the Opposition that I have resigned from the role of Shadow Minister for Prevention of Domestic, Family and Sexual Violence,” Mr Edgington said.
“I have always been and will continue to be a strong advocate for driving down the shocking rates of domestic family and sexual violence which have increased by 83 per cent under the last eight years of Labor.”
He said that during his time in the role he had lobbied the government to deliver its as yet undelivered promise to develop a specialist domestic violence hub for Tennant Creek, and for the return of a Domestic, Family and Sexual Violence Coordinator position to the town.
“My constituency is one of the most impacted by Labor’s failure to tackle domestic violence and I will not let anything distract focus from this important issue.”
Opposition Leader Lia Finocchiaro stood by Mr Edgington’s record.
“Steve has been very clear that he is a fierce advocate for the prevention of domestic violence, and the rehabilitation of offenders, representing one of the most impacted communities in the Territory,” she said.
“I agree with Steve that the issue of domestic, family and sexual violence is bigger than a job title, and that we will not allow this to be a distraction from the devastatingly high rates across the Territory.”
Katherine MLA Jo Hersey will take over the CLP domestic violence portfolio, while Mr Edgington remains Shadow Attorney-General and Shadow Minister for Mining, Aboriginal Affairs, Children, Treaty and Local Government.
Mr Newman told The Australian all of the properties owned by his business were sold before Mr Edgington entered parliament.
“It wasn’t operating (when he was in parliament), it was only a business registration, it was shut down,” Mr Newman said.
“Once he decided to run for parliament we decided to close the business down because he wasn’t going to be active in the business so we shut it down and sold them all.”
In relation to his charges Mr Newman said: “I had to plead guilty to expedite charges after several months, but you might find there’s more to the story”.
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