WhatsNew2Day – Latest News And Breaking Headlines
A federal politician has told parliament that a National Party member sent a suspicious package to his home in an attempt to “intimidate and threaten” him.
Key points:
Calare MP Andrew Gee has told Parliament he received an “intimidating” package at his home last week.
Gee claims he was sent by the leader of the National Party in his local electorate, Janelle Culverson.
The NSW Nationals state director has called on Ms Culverson to resign from her role.
Andrew Gee, MP for the Calare regional electorate in New South Wales and former Minister for Veterans Affairs, used parliamentary privilege to announce that a package was sent anonymously to his home in Orange, central west New Wales from the south.
“The package contained empty wine bottles with labels containing an insulting message,” Gee said.
He told parliament that CCTV footage from the post office indicated it had been posted by NSW National Party Calare federal electoral council chair Janelle Culverson, who admitted sending it “when confronted by the police”.
Andrew Gee told parliament that Janelle Culverson admitted sending the package “when confronted by police”.(Facebook: Cabonne Town Hall)
“This was no joke,” he said.
“I believe that the publication of the package, its contents and the measures taken by Ms. Culverson to conceal her identity as sender were designed to cause concern, anxiety and fear among me and my family.
“(Their objective was) to intimidate and threaten me so that I would not contest the Calare seat in the next elections.
“This is a nasty, vicious and spiteful policy.”
In a statement, NSW Nationals state director Joe Lundy said Ms Culverson had been asked to resign.
“Regardless of the motivation, whether frustration with Mr Gee’s actions or otherwise, anonymously posting ambiguous material to an MP’s home is not, in my opinion, acceptable behaviour,” Mr Lundy said.
“For this reason, yesterday I wrote to the president of the federal electoral council of Calare asking her to resign from her position as president.”
Gee was a member of the National Party until he defected last year to join the bench as an independent.
New South Wales Police said officers from the Central West District carried out an investigation into the delivery of a package and found no crime had been committed.
Former Veterans Affairs Minister Andrew Gee and his family “were very shocked and concerned” by the package.(ABC News: Hugh Hogan)
Gee told parliament that Australian Federal Police and local officers discovered the package had been sent with “a false name, address and signature”.
“The families and homes of parliamentarians should never be the target of political attacks,” he said.
“The return address on the package appeared fictitious and my family and I, including my children, were very shocked and worried that our home was being attacked.”
The ABC has approached Ms Culverson and the NSW Nationals for comment.
Find more local news
Search your location and find more ABC local news and information