Queensland police have dismissed reports that parliamentarian Billy Gordon has been cleared of domestic violence allegations.
Gordon’s electoral office said on Thursday that the far-north Queensland MP, who a former partner accused of having assaulted her prior to his career in politics, had been told by officers that no charges would be laid.
However, a senior Queensland police source told Guardian Australia that investigators would make it “crystal clear” when they had reached that decision in the high-profile matter.
“We’re not there yet,” the source said.
A police spokesman said the investigation had not been finalised.
Gordon, the rookie MP from the seat of Cook, was forced to quit the governing Labor party in April after revelations of a juvenile criminal history, unpaid child support and the abuse allegations that subsequently led to the police probe.
The Palaszczuk government’s slim parliamentary majority appeared tenuous amid uncertainty over Gordon’s future but Labor continues to hold the numbers with the Cook MP’s support as an independent.
His office on Thursday said Gordon had been told he would face no charges and described the mood as “very happy”.
Gordon told the Cairns Post that he had undergone “the ultimate baptism of fire”.
“This was never about domestic violence … it’s been a dirty, grotty [campaign] and it was a convenient political tool that people decided to use,” he said.
“We’ve got a leader of the opposition [Lawrence Springborg] that’s failed three or four times to become premier of this state, I think there’s a degree of desperation there and malice, that’s almost institutionalised in the LNP.”
Those who are not charged as a result of a police investigation are generally not told they have been cleared of allegations, but that the matter has been finalised with police taking no further action.
