Queensland Labor has voted to expel one of its members from caucus in a move labelled “unprecedented” by the state party’s leader, Steven Miles.
The member for Stafford, Jimmy Sullivan, was subsequently ejected from theLabor partyentirely on Monday night, after a meeting of its administrative committee.
The vote to remove Sullivan from Labor’s caucus came after allegations of involvement in a “domestic and family violence incident” were raised by the Liberal National party in parliament.
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The MP responded to his expulsion in a defiant statement on Monday night, labelling it a “cheap political move”.
Labor MPs voted to kick Sullivan out in an extraordinary caucus meeting on Monday, with all MPs but Sullivan himself backing the motion put forth by Miles. The opposition leader subsequently claimed the MP had failed to comply with a “safe return-to-work plan” after taking extended leave from parliament.
Caucus also voted to refer Sullivan to the party’s administrative committee for potential dismissal from Labor. On Monday night, the committee decided to expel him from the Labor party.
Allegations have swirled around Sullivan since media reports last year that police were called to his home on 27 October. No charges were laid.
It was the day after Sullivan was re-elected as the member for Stafford.
Amanda Camm, the Liberal National party government’s minister for the prevention of domestic violence, told parliament on 30 April that Sullivan “was involved in an alleged domestic violence incident” and described him as “an alleged perpetrator of domestic and family violence”.
Labor says that legal matters involving Sullivan were dismissed by a magistrate in their entirety. The MP took four months’ leave from late October and returned to work in February.
The motion to dismiss Sullivan was moved by Miles and seconded by his deputy, Cameron Dick on Monday.
At a brief press conference at parliament, Miles said Sullivan had been set a “safe return-to-work plan” for the MP.
It included “what you would expect to see in a return-to-work plan for somebody who had to take extended leave for personal and health matters”, Miles said.
That included keeping the party and the parliamentary leadership informed about his health status at regular intervals.
“He hasn’t complied with that plan and as a result, we have sought caucus support to take this action,” Miles said.
Miles said Sullivan had not provided any updates “for some time”. He said “party elders” and others in Labor had tried to convince him to “take an appropriate course of action”.
He said Sullivan could now choose to remain an MP on the crossbench or resign.
“The Labor party does and always has set a very high standard for our members of parliament,” he said.
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Sullivan said the premise of Miles’ motion was “completely untrue”.
“I complied with every requirement placed on me, and more, and that was articulated to the leadership team in detail in my return to work,” he said.
“This is a cheap political move – one that is not just personally hurtful but also against the principles of our great party. I will continue to represent my Labor branch members who preselected me and supported me and my beautiful community who elected me twice as a Labor MP.”
Labor has come under sustained pressure from the LNP government over Sullivan.
At parliament’s last sitting, Camm accused deputy leader Dick of running a “protection racket” for the MP.
But Miles denied politics had anything to do with his decision on Monday.
Asked if Sullivan could regain the trust of the party, Miles said “as far as I’m concerned, this is final”.
“There has been long process here, and the caucus has taken an unprecedented step. The support for this motion was unanimous, other than the member for Stafford, and has the effect of expelling him from the caucus.”
Sullivan attended the meeting, which ran about 20 minutes, Miles said, and spoke in his own defence.
The son of Terry Sullivan, who served as member for Stafford from 2001 to 2006, Sullivan has held the seat since 2020.
The Guardian understands Sullivan intends to serve out his term.
In Australia, the nationalfamily violence counselling serviceis on 1800 737 732.