Nationals Deputy Leader Perin Davey says scar tissue in throat, not alcohol, caused slurred speech

Nationals Deputy Leader Perin Davey says her slurred speech in senate estimates was caused not by alcohol, but by a medical condition.

Senator Perin Davey.

Nationals Deputy Leader Perin Davey says her slurred speech in senate estimates was caused not by alcohol, but by a medical condition she incurred after undergoing numerous emergency surgeries due to an abscess exploding in her throat in Germany five years ago.

The NSW Senator has come under scrutiny after vision emerged of her in estimates last week appearing to slur her words while asking questions of government officials and later admitting to having drunk two glasses of red wine beforehand.

But Senator Davey maintained that rather than being impaired by alcohol, fatigue and stress over the sitting fortnight had exacerbated an underlying condition.

“Everyone is saying ‘well she stumbled over this word, and stumbled over that word’ but sometimes I can’t help it,” she said.

“Just after I was preselected five years ago we took a family holiday just before the work really started … and I left Australia with a sore throat and landed in Germany pretty much looking like the elephant man and went straight into hospital and within hours of landing I was having the first round of emergency surgery.”

Senator Davey said she was in hospital in Tübingen for 11 days and had “120 odd intravenous antibiotic transfusions” and developed sepsis.

In photos taken at the time, Senator Davey’s throat is enlarged with bandages across her neck following the surgery.

“They said it will impact your voice and your speech. It was an abscess that had basically then … exploded and my facial muscles, my throat muscles … they had to give me surgery both inside my throat and outside,” she said.

“I had a drainage pipe in my throat for three weeks. I’ve got scar tissue inside my throat and every now and again when I talk, mucus and spittle will drip down and exaggerate it and my voice will catch.

“My face always feels like there’s a hand on it, is the best way to describe it … when I’m tired I can feel my face sagging.”

Senator Davey said she had sent a message the day after estimates to members of the arts community with the clip capturing the line of questioning that has garnered public attention, arguing she would not have done so if she believed she was alcohol impaired.

When asked about her alcohol consumption in parliament, Senator Davey said while she had alcohol in her suite, much of it was unopened and she did not drink every day.

“In 2019 there was a lot more alcohol around. I would say now I have a glass or two at an event … or on a Thursday when (parliament) is finished,” she said.

Senator Davey stopped short of committing to not drinking while in parliament and said she would “think twice” when offered alcohol at events and not drink if there was a chance she would be called back to the chamber.

The Nationals Senator said someone had gone onto her personal Facebook account, which is under a different name and includes only personal information for friends and families, to screenshot a photo she posted of a glass of red wine on a Friday.

Since then, she said her children, who were she regularly tagged on her personal Facebook account, had been trolled.

“It’s starting to feel very personal,” she said.

It follows Barnaby Joyce being filmed lying on a Canberra footpath earlier this month, which he blamed on mixing alcohol with a prescription medication.

The Nationals and Liberal leaders have both defended Senator Davey for the incident.