Pyne says behaviour of Petros Khalesirad, who was charged with stalking Brittany Lauga, was ‘exemplary’ in parliament

This article is more than 3 years old

This article is more than 3 years old

The independent Queensland MP Rob Pyne faces an investigation for inviting the alleged stalker of a government MP to parliament after the Speaker ruled there may have been a “security breach” involving a visitor who “posed a risk”.

Petros Khalesirad, who was charged with stalking the Labor MP Brittany Lauga last year, was left “unattended” in the parliamentary precinct and sat watching question time in the public gallery after Pyne signed him in as a guest on Tuesday.

Police will now apply to amend bail orders to prevent Khalesirad coming within 100m of Lauga, the Guardian understands.

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The Speaker, Peter Wellington, told parliament on Thursday he had referred Pyne to the ethics committee, which can recommend MPs be expelled, for what was a “prima facie” case of a security breach.

Wellington said he took “breaches of our security procedures very seriously” and there needed to be “further examination of the facts” around the matter.

Lauga, who is pregnant with her first child, which is due next month, wrote to Wellington to flag the incident and accused Pyne of possibly committing contempt of parliament.

Lauga, the MP for Keppel on the central coast, claims she told Pyne last month about the stalking charge but he signed Khalesirad in as a parliamentary visitor regardless.

Wellington on Wednesday told parliament the issue related to “a person who posed a risk to another member being given entry to the precinct – in particular, being signed in as a guest of another member”.

He said he was questioning Pyne as to “the state of [his] knowledge regarding this person” and why Khalesirad and another guest “were apparently left unattended”.

Wellington said security breaches were “a very grave matter” and he may temporarily stop MPs in breach from “bringing in guests to parliament”.

Pyne has defended his actions, saying in a statement that “of all the guests I have had to Parliament House, none have been better behaved than Mr Khalesirad”.

“I found his behaviour to be exemplary,” he said. “Contrary to ALP statements, I have been advised that the supreme court and the fixated persons unit at the QPS did not find that Mr Khalesirad is a risk to Ms Lauga.”

Khalesirad, an IT entrepreneur, young Queenslander of the Year in 1999 and political blogger, is accused of harassing Lauga between February and August 2016, including by threatening her over electronic devices, publishing her address and phone number online and slandering her on Facebook. He denies one count of unlawful stalking, with the trial due to resume on 14 December.

Lauga told the Rockhampton magistrates court on 31 July that she was “terrified” by the alleged harassment, which “brought fear of what he would say next, fear that he was watching me, fear that I was under surveillance”.

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“There were dozens upon dozens of posts, daily. I feel like my phone is bugged or tapped.”

Original bail conditions prevented Khalesirad from coming within 100m of the MP. But he succeeded in having the terms amended by the supreme court so that he could enter parliament despite Lauga’s likely presence in the chamber. Police will now have parliament covered in the exclusion area.

The Guardian can also reveal that Khalesirad has been supported during the trial by one of Lauga’s vocal critics, Karla Way-McPhail, who is also a board member for the federal government’s Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility (Naif).

Way-McPhail, a mining services entrepreneur, has come under fire in federal Senate estimates hearings for a potential conflict of interest regarding Adani’s Naif loan application, as well as her links to the Liberal National party and senator Matthew Canavan, who recommended her appointment to the Naif board.

She attended the entire court hearing on 31 July and has employed Khalesirad to do social media work for her company Coal Train.

The court heard in March that Khalesirad was having “difficulty raising funds for the hearing”.

Khalesirad is now represented by Greg McGuire, a senior criminal law barrister with more than 30 years experience.

Asked to comment on her role in supporting Khalesirad, including with any legal costs, Way-McPhail has told the Guardian: “I make no comment in relation to the case at all.”