This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

The man who was fined for abusing Malcolm Turnbull in a Brisbane pub last month has been charged with the attempted murder of a woman.

Queensland police charged Nick Gordon, a 26-year-old landscaper, with the attempted murder of a 30-year-old woman in a Brisbane suburb on Sunday.

Police responded to reports of a disturbance at a Carina Heights address on 3 June, and arrived to find a woman with “significant facial injuries and cuts to her hands”.

Gordon, whom police said was known to the woman, was charged with attempted murder, contravention of domestic violence order and contravening order about information.

He will appear in the Brisbane magistrates court later on Monday.

Asked about the arrest at a press conference, in light of the man’s history with the prime minister, the home affairs minister, Peter Dutton, said it highlighted the seriousness of an issue which some political opponents had attempted to make light of.



Gordon, known as “Bluey”, made national headlines and appeared on breakfast television shows after he was removed and fined from a Brisbane pub after abusing Malcolm Turnbull and giving him the finger for allegedly cutting in front of him in line.

He later said he did not realise it was the prime minister. He was immediately removed from the bar and fined for public nuisance. Former Labor senator Sam Dastyari began crowdfunding for the man, to pay his $756 fine.

Malcolm Turnbull gets the finger for committing the ultimate Aussie pub sin Read more

Footage released later showed Turnbull and the man were at different areas of the bar.

“The only point I’d make is that there was some, in the Labor party, including Mr Shorten, at the time who tried to make an issue of this,” Dutton said.

At the time, Bill Shorten said he did not believe anyone “should abuse anyone – it doesn’t matter if it is Malcolm Turnbull or somebody’s grandmother” but also advised Turnbull not to hold his political events where alcohol was served.



The pub incident also became an issue during Senate estimates, with Mathias Cormann questioned by the Labor senator Kimberley Kitching over whether or not the prime minister had jumped the queue.

A social media post, published on 1 June by Gordon, reposted one of his television appearances with the caption “never gets old what a laugh”.