Labor MP Will Fowles won’t say if he bought drugs

Will Fowles returns to work two months after smashing a hotel door in a rage-filled outburst.

Victorian Labor MP Will Fowles. Picture: AAP

Victorian Labor MP Will Fowles has refused to say whether he has bought illicit drugs during his time in parliament, as he returned to work more than two months after smashing a Canberra hotel door in a rage-filled outburst.

Mr Fowles has been on leave with full pay since July 25, having admitted that he has been battling addiction and mental health issues “for a long time”.

On Tuesday, the member for the eastern suburban Melbourne seat of Burwood walked back into state parliament, flanked by Health Minister Jenny Mikakos and Crime Prevention Minister Ben Carroll.

“I’m very happy to be back at work. Clearly it’s been a challenging period, but I am very focused on the future, focused on getting back to work for the people of Burwood,” Mr Fowles said.

Asked whether he had taken illicit substances or bought them from drug dealers during his time as an MP, Mr Fowles said he was “not going to go into the details of those things that have happened in the past”.

“On the advice of my medical professionals, my focus has to be on the future,” the 41-year-old said.

“The future is where my head is at, the future is where all my endeavours are going to be going, and I’m looking forward very much to getting back to work for the people of Burwood.”

The door of the Canberra hotel that was smashed by Mr Fowles in July. Picture: Twitter

In July, Mr Fowles said his medication had been stored in luggage that was locked in a room of the Abode Hotel in Canberra, leading him to kick down the door.

Asked whether he regretted kicking the door down and what he had learnt during his time away from work, Mr Fowles said he was “very, very sorry”.

“I did the wrong thing,” he said. “I made a horrendous mistake, and I am sorry for the harm that it has done to my colleagues, I’m sorry for the harm it has done to my family, my friends.

“It has been undoubtedly a difficult period, and I’ve had to come to terms with making that very, very bad mistake.”

Mr Fowles also declined to say whether the supported Labor’s previous policy, taken to the 2014 election, of breath testing for MPs and judges.

Opposition Leader Michael O’Brien said he was concerned that Mr Fowles had failed to rule out the possibility that he used illicit drugs since becoming an MP last November.

“If somebody is taking illegal drugs when they’re a member of parliament, it means they’re buying drugs from a drug dealer,” Mr O’Brien said.

“Now that would put a member of parliament in a compromising position.”

The Andrews government opted not to implement a policy of breath testing for MPs on the recommendation of a parliamentary committee.

Mr O’Brien said he would support drug and alcohol testing for MPs.

“Why not?” he said. “There are a lot of other workplaces where people can’t drink on the job, or certainly can’t be drunk on the job.

“I don’t think that there’s anything wrong with members of parliament being held to the same sort of standards.”

Ms Mikakos said she was very happy to see Mr Fowles back at work.

“We’re pleased that Will is back and that he’s focused on his future health needs,” she said.

“We will continue to support him.

“For me, as the Minister for Health, I want to see members of parliament, I want to see doctors, I want to see healthcare workers, I want to see people in our society who are experiencing mental illness, who are experiencing addiction issues to step forward and to get the help that they need without being shamed, and I am appalled by the Liberal leader, in the way he’s attacked Will, for having the courage to speak up about his issues.”

Asked whether Labor was hypocritical in being prepared to give second chances to an MP from a privileged background while legislating mandatory detention for youth offenders, Mr Carroll said mental illness did not discriminate.

“As someone who walks through the corrections system all the time, people from all backgrounds, whether it be blue collar, white collar … it doesn’t discriminate,” Mr Carroll said.

The son of former Fowles Auction Group owner David Fowles, Mr Fowles was educated at Scotch College, is a member of Mr Andrews’s Socialist Left faction and has been questioned in parliament by the Coalition over ­allegations he failed to pay workers’ entitlements when his pub went into receivership in central Queensland.

As a backbench MP, Mr Fowles is paid an annual salary of $182,000.