Gordon Nuttall insists he's innocent of corruption and claims to be a victim of 'revenge'

JAILED former minister Gordon Nuttall has stood in Queensland's parliament and accused his Labor colleagues of betraying him when he needed them most.

Nuttall

JAILED former minister Gordon Nuttall has stood in Queensland's parliament and accused his Labor colleagues of betraying him when he needed them most.

In an emotional and historic address to state parliament, Nuttall continued to assert his innocence on charges of corruption and perjury for which he is serving a total of 12 years in jail.

However he did not make any specific allegations of corruption against any current or former Queensland politicians, as had been foreshadowed.

Dressed in a navy blue suit and free of handcuffs, a gaunt-looking Nuttall was released from jail today to speak at the bar of Queensland parliament to defend himself against contempt charges.

It's the first time a prisoner has addressed Queensland parliament.

The former Labor health and industrial relations minister faces fines of $82,000 for not disclosing payments from high-profile businessmen to the parliamentary pecuniary register.

Nuttall began his address to MPs by likening the experience to that of Christians being fed to the lions.

“Daniel was thrown into a den full of lions and as most of you would know the following day the king went down and there was Daniel unharmed and untouched,” Nuttall said. “While I hope that may be the outcome today, I'm a little bit more fearful.”

Nuttall told parliament he did nothing wrong in accepting hundreds of thousands of dollars from mining executives, and also said he'd received a tougher prison sentence than US gangster Al Capone.

He went on to tip a bucket on the Crime and Misconduct Commission and the Director of Public Prosecutions, accusing the CMC of  “a savage desire for revenge” against him.

Nuttall said the two agencies, which investigated and successfully prosecuted the corruption allegations against him, had run a targeted campaign.

He said the bodies ensured he was “demonised, abandoned, ridiculed, cheated and made a fool of”.

Nuttall said his former close friends and colleagues in the “Labor family” had cast him adrift after the allegations came to light.

“When I needed you most, you chose to desert me. Not one phone call, not one visit, not one voice of support,” he said.

He said he was not wrong to accept the loans from the businessmen and not disclose them to parliament.

“The fault lies with the (parliamentary) guidelines, the fault does not lie in a member not putting it in a register,” Nuttall said.

“I have never knowingly or wrongfully set out to do wrong.”

Nuttall said if the parliament did not accept his claims of innocence, then he was offering a “sincere and unqualified apology”.

He said he did not have the financial capacity to pay a fine.

Nuttall told parliament the CMC's investigation into his behaviour was prompted by the politician's negative statements against the corruption watchdog in parliament in February 2006.

“The CMC ran around this state like a bunch of stormtroopers,” he said.

Nuttall said several properties had been raided - including those of his solicitor and accountant - and his assets had been frozen.

He claimed he did not receive a fair trial and was unjustly sentenced to a longer prison term than notorious gangster Al Capone.

“There's people in our jails that have committed far worse crimes. Crimes of armed robbery, crimes of manslaughter and yet they've received lesser sentences.”

Nuttall said he felt as if he was “done and dusted” before his trial, and claimed the DPP had tried to interfere with the fair running of the case.

Several times during his address, speaker John Mickel had to warn Nuttall to confine his remarks to the contempt charges and the associated penalties.

One of the Speaker's warnings came as Nuttall called for an independent judicial inquiry into the CMC and the DPP.

On occasion, Nuttall appeared to become emotional, and finished his address with time to spare.

Finally he thanked his family and those friends who had stuck by him.

“I am bound but I am not beaten, I am bloodied but not broken,” he said.

Parliament will now vote on whether Nuttall should be fined for his actions.

Nuttall was jailed in 2009 for accepting bribes from mining magnates Ken Talbot, who died in an African plane crash before he could face charges, and Harold Shand, who himself was jailed this year.

Nuttall is also serving time for corruption and perjury, stemming from his relationship with another Brisbane businessman, Brendan McKennariey.

Earlier, the Speaker warned MPs to behave when Nuttall gave his 45-minute address.

“This process is more akin to a sombre and serious judicial process,” Mr Mickel told parliament. “I will not tolerate disorder of any type.”

Former Queensland premier Peter Beattie had predicted Nuttall would use his address to seek revenge for his imprisonment for corruption.