South Australian Upper House MP Connie Bonaros says she is pleased she pursued a police complaint against fellow MP Sam Duluk, despite the former Liberal being acquitted of assault.

Key points:

  • Sam Duluk was found not guilty of assaulting fellow MP Connie Bonaros
  • Ms Bonaros has rejected Mr Duluk’s apology
  • She has called for changes in the way such matters are dealt with in Parliament

Mr Duluk was this morning found not guilty of assaulting Ms Bonaros at a parliamentary Christmas party in 2019.

But the magistrate said Mr Duluk behaved “like a drunken pest” on the afternoon in question, and that he owed Ms Bonaros an apology.

Ms Bonaros said the verdict “had not helped” her while on sick leave from parliament for matters unrelated to the case.

“The events of that evening — and Mr Duluk’s conduct towards me — still sicken me when I think about what he did,” she said in the statement.

Magistrate John Wells found Mr Duluk tried to put ice down the front of Ms Bonaros’s dress, lifted up a chair she was sitting on, grabbed a bottle of spirits and held it up to her mouth and invited her into his office where he said he had more alcohol.

This photo of Labor’s Justin Hanson, SA Best’s Connie Bonaros and former Liberal Sam Duluk was tendered as evidence in court.(

Supplied

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But he was unable to rule in favour of Ms Bonaros’s evidence that Mr Duluk had later slapped her on the bottom, because a separate witness had described the contact as a “soft, quiet pat.”

Ms Bonaros thanked Magistrate Wells for his “careful consideration”.

“I am a lawyer and I know he was faced with a difficult decision when the prosecution called an eye witness whose evidence… was different to mine,” she said.

“I also know Mr Duluk maintained his silence, a right he has in a criminal trial.”

Ms Bonaros stressed that she was glad she had made a police complaint against the then Liberal MP, and urged women and girls to not let the decision dissuade them from reporting poor behaviour.

“I do not want any woman or girl thinking there was not benefit in taking action against someone like Mr Duluk,” Ms Bonaros said.

“I have sent a message to him that what he did was wrong.”

Mr Duluk delivered his own statement in parliament this afternoon, saying he was grateful for the opportunity “to have cleared his name”.

“I once again reiterate the personal apology that I conveyed to Ms Bonaros after the event in December 2019,” Mr Duluk said.

“Through a lot of reflection and plenty of love and support from my family and friends, as well as the commitment and support of my staff in my electorate office, I know that I stand here today a stronger, happier and better person, having address the causes of my behaviour that night.”

MP Sam Duluk outside the Adelaide Magistrates Court in June.(

ABC News: Tony Hill

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Ms Bonaros said she did not want Mr Duluk’s apology.

“The shame is all his,” she said.

Mr Duluk has signalled his intention to remain in parliament and seek re-election in March.

It is not yet clear whether he will be permitted to re-join his former Liberal colleagues on the government benches despite the acquittal.

South Australian Premier Steven Marshall said the Liberal Party would likely reserve its position until a separate parliamentary investigation into Mr Duluk’s behaviour was completed.