State MP Nick McBride reportedly charged with assault
The independent Member for Mackillop, the electorate which includes Tailem Bend and the Coorong district, says he will remain in parliament.
State MP Nick McBride will continue to represent the Coorong district in parliament despite having been charged with assault.
Adelaide media reported on April 14 that Mr McBride had been charged with three counts of assault against his wife Katherine.
The MP did not respond to a request for comment from Murray Bridge News at the time, and SA Police do not identify people charged with crimes.
However, Mr McBride issued a public statement on Tuesday.
“This is a private matter that is currently before the courts,” he said.
“I am here to continue my work as the Member for MacKillop.
“I will be making no further comment while this process continues.”
Members of parliament who are charged with a crime are allowed to remain in office unless they are convicted of an indictable offence: one serious enough to be subject to a trial by a jury.
Domestic assault is considered a minor indictable offence, according to the Legal Services Commission South Australia.
Mr McBride was elected to parliament as a Liberal in 2018, and his electorate of Mackillop grew to include Tailem Bend at the 2022 election.
He put his hand up for the Liberal leadership after the party’s defeat, but was unsuccessful.
His wife, a nurse, is no stranger to politics, either – at one stage she hoped to run as the Liberal candidate at this week’s federal election, but a vote of party members went MP Tony Pasin’s way.
Mr McBride quit the party a few months after that episode, and has served as an independent ever since.
He is expected to face court at Naracoorte next Wednesday.
His current term in parliament will end at the state election on March 21 of next year.
