Victorian MP Will Fowles has resigned from the state’s Labor Party over an alleged “serious assault”.
The member for Ringwood stood aside on Saturday after the Premier’s office was made aware of an alleged incident on Thursday.
According to The Herald Sun, Mr Fowles was at the parliamentary bar on Wednesday night, behaving “unusually”.
In a statement on Saturday night, Premier Daniel Andrews said his office had made inquiries over the course of Friday and Saturday, and had “received information from a government employee about an alleged serious assault by the Member for Ringwood”.
“My office referred the matter to Victorian Police on Saturday evening,” the statement said.
“Tonight I also sought and received the Member’s resignation from the parliamentary Labor Party.”
Mr Andrews sad Mr Fowles had been, and would continue to be supported.
“The wellbeing of staff and their right to a safe workplace isn’t negotiable,” he said.
Mr Fowles has not yet indicated whether he would resign from parliament entirely – which would force a by election – or remain in his seat.
Mr Fowles was elected to the seat of Ringwood, in eastern Melbourne, in 2018.
In 2019, Mr Fowles was questioned by police after he smashed in the bottom half of a door while at a Canberra hotel.
At the time, he said he had been dealing with “addiction and other mental health issues”.
He spent two and a half months off work on full pay following the incident.
NCA NewsWire has approached Mr Fowles for comment.
In a statement, Victoria Police confirmed they had received a referral from the state government regarding an assault.
“No official complaint has been received from a victim in relation to the matter,” they said.
“Police have provided contact details should a victim choose to make a report.”