I wasn`t drunk, says sacked minister

I wasn`t drunk, says sacked minister

14.09.2008

DUMPED NSW police minister Matt Brown has denied he was drunk at the wild Parliament House party where he allegedly stripped to his underwear.

 Mr Brown told The Sun-Herald newspaper that the night of the party in his eighth-floor office on June 3 was marked by stupidity but not drunkenness.

He said he remembered taking off his shirt, and dancing, but did not remember taking off his pants.

"I don`t recall parading around in my underwear," he said.

"I know I took my shirt off and I know I did have a dance. I was working off steam in the privacy of my own office with workmates. It was harmless fun."

Mr Brown, who was just 27 when he was elected in 1999, has strenuously denied getting his gear off and mounting the chest of fellow MP Noreen Hay while announcing to her daughter he was "titty f---ing" her mother.

Ms Hay has also denied Mr Brown clambered onto her. However party sources say she complained of a bruised cheek in the week after the party, and blamed it on Mr Brown`s elbow.

Mr Brown said he did not know what had caused the bruise, but it may have been sustained on the side of his office couch.

He told The Sun-Herald of his grief at causing trouble for Labor`s new leadership team of Nathan Rees and Carmel Tebbutt.

"I am very embarrassed - it`s not really something I want to talk about," he said.  "I feel terrible for my family, staff, community and the government.

"We have had a change in direction, and a new leadership team, and I think we can still have momentum despite this incident."

The divorced father of one said he had agreed with Mr Rees`s request to tender his resignation because he did not want the government "to be distracted by this silliness".

"I have paid the ultimate political price and I accept that," he said.

"I wanted to get it off the political agenda so the government can get on with the job of delivering services for the community.  Nathan has got a huge job and he doesn`t want these distractions."

Mr Brown said "most people" at the party were not drunk but wine was consumed.

The activities that had been alleged - that is, the simulated sex with Ms Hay - were "generally not true" but he did not want to "go into specifics".

"I am not going into every single aspect of my behaviour on the night," he said.

Of the Hay claims, he said: "It`s incredible other people make stuff up like that. There is no way I would treat anyone like that, or say those words."

Mr Brown said he was "shell-shocked" by the crisis but had been buoyed by overwhelming community support.

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