Federal MP Luke Gosling has been charged with assaulting Northern Territory Administrator David Connolly.
The administrator’s office has alleged the incident occurred during the NT Thailand Grand Festival, a community event held in Darwin on July 18.
Police began investigating the matter last week and arrested the 54-year-old Labor MP this morning.
NT Police have since charged Mr Gosling with two counts of assault on the administrator or judges.
The administrator is the Crown’s representative in the NT, a vice-regal role equivalent to a state governor.
David Connolly was allegedly assaulted at the NT Thailand Grand Festival earlier this month. (ABC News: Dane Hirst)
In a brief statement following his arrest, Mr Gosling said: “The Northern Territory Police have released a statement on this matter. I am cooperating fully with their inquiries.”
Mr Gosling received bail and is due to appear in the Darwin Local Court on September 1.
He was met by members of the media as he walked from the Palmerston police station to his car, but did not answer any media questions.
Speaking to the media outside the Palmerston police station, Mr Gosling’s lawyer Marty Aust SC said his client “completely and utterly denied” the allegations and would contest them.
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He also criticised the way police had handled the matter so far.
“It’s particularly concerning that the police resorted to the power of arrest when they could have dealt with this matter by way of summons or notice to appear,” he said.
“There’s a real concern that there’s a degree of politicisation in relation to how this matter is being handled already.
“Now that the matter is before the court there’s nothing further to say at this time.”
A spokesperson for Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said there was a legal process underway and it would be inappropriate to comment further.
Luke Gosling has been arrested by NT Police over an alleged assault on the NT administrator earlier this month. (ABC News: Hamish Harty)
In a post on X (formerly Twitter), Liberal Senator James Paterson, the shadow minister for defence, called for Mr Gosling to step down.
“The allegations facing Special Envoy for Defence & Veterans, Luke Gosling, are incredibly serious,” he wrote.
“While everyone is entitled to the presumption of innocence, an arrest for assault requires him to immediately stand down from his duties.
“The PM must act today.”
Both Mr Connolly and Mr Gosling were involved in parts of the Thai festival’s official proceedings.
On the Tuesday after the festival, media sighted NT Police detectives leaving Mr Connolly’s office near Government House in the Darwin CBD.
Police were spotted leaving David Connolly’s office three days after the Thai festival. (ABC News: Pete Garnish)
Mr Gosling, a former army commando, is the Commonwealth’s special envoy for defence and veterans’ affairs.
He has been the federal Member for Solomon, an electorate that takes in Darwin and its satellite city of Palmerston, since 2016.
When the allegations first hit the media last week, Mr Gosling vehemently denied the claims.
The administrator’s spokesperson said at the time that “an incident occurred during His Honour the Administrator’s official attendance at a community event over the weekend”.
“As the matter is under investigation, no further comment will be made regarding the incident or the parties involved,” he said.
David Connolly at the Thai Festival on July 18, with Luke Gosling visible in the background, further down the same row. (Supplied)
Mr Connolly was sworn in to the position of NT Administrator in Februrary, after drawing controversy for past social media posts that were labelled by some as “racist” and “denigrating of women”.
Mr Gosling was one of three federal Labor politicians at the time who criticised Mr Connolly for his posts and called for him to apologise to the community, which Mr Connolly did several weeks later.
According to the NT Criminal Code, anyone found guilty of an assault on the NT administrator while “he is engaged in the discharge of his official functions” could be imprisoned for up to 14 years.