Ex-MP Annabel Digance and husband charged with blackmailing SA Labor leader Peter Malinauskas

Annabel and Greg Digance allegedly threatened to make false claims against Peter Malinauskas unless he got her job back.

Annabel Digance, top right, and her husband Greg, bottom right, are taken into police custody for the alleged attempted blackmail of SA Labor leader Peter Malinauskas, left. Pictures: Supplied

Weeks after accusing Labor of using bullying tactics, former South Australian Labor MP Annabel Digance and her husband, Greg, have been arrested by SA Police and charged with attempting to blackmail state Opposition Leader Peter Malinauskas.

The pair face up to 15 years’ jail for allegedly threatening to make false claims of racism, sexism and bullying against Mr Malinauskas unless he agreed to ensure that Ms Digance got back her old job as a state MP or a new job as a senator.

The Digances were arrested on Wednesday at their Adelaide Hills home, where they had sat down with The Australian three weeks ago when Ms Digance claimed to have been a victim of Labor Party bullying.

They appeared in the Adelaide Magistrates Court via video link on Wednesday where they each posted $5000 bail and agreed to surrender their passports and remain at their home in Strathalbyn.

In her interview last month, Ms Digance revealed her anguish at a racist smear campaign the ALP ran against her Liberal opponent Carolyn Habib at the 2014 SA election. A pamphlet sent to 16,000 homes with the words “CAN YOU TRUST HABIB?” was said to be a clear attempt to smear Ms Habib over her Arabic surname.

Ms Digance said the pamphlet was “horrible” and when she tried to speak up, she was “bullied” into silence by a “Labor Boy’s Club”.

It has now emerged that Ms Digance and her husband were under investigation all this year by SAPOL’s major crime unit over a string of potentially criminal conversations with Mr Malinauskas.

Police allege the Digances men­aced Mr Malinauskas by issuing a series of demands aiming at ensuring that Ms Digance would return to politics either in the SA upper house or a safe lower house seat or as a senator for SA.

Former Labor MP Annabel Digance. Picture: Roy Van Der Vegt

It is alleged they threatened to accuse Mr Malinauskas of racist, sexist and bullying behaviour in a bid to derail his career ahead of next year’s state election.

Police further allege that the demands continued even after Mr Malinauskas warned the pair he would not be blackmailed and would go to police.

The threats were made in text messages, in telephone calls and at face-to-face meetings between the Digances and Mr Malinauskas.

It was at one of those face-to-face meetings when Mr Malinauskas said he planned to talk to SAPOL about their threats.

Ms Digance became vocal on Twitter last month amid the sex scandals rocking federal parliament, suggesting she too had first-hand experience of the culture of bullying within politics.

“There are many, many examples within Labor ranks of misuse of power, intimidation, bullying, ignoring, gaslighting …. need I go on?’’ she tweeted.

After those tweets, she agreed to sit down with The Australian where she went public over her ­apparent concerns about the 2014 Elder campaign and targeting of Ms Habib.

“I have carried this with me for so long it has caused me deep stress,’’ she said in a teary interview. I also feel bad that after I was told not to say anything about it that I stayed silent out of some misplaced sense of loyalty to the party.’’

Her comments were resoundingly rejected by Ms Habib, who now goes by her married name Carolyn Power, who said if Ms Digance was so upset about the pamphlet, she could have apologised properly at some stage in the past seven years.

Ms Digance’s claims forced the Liberals to establish a parliamentary committee to investigate the matters she raised, which ­Attorney-General Vickie Chapman said would continue despite the blackmail charges.