Malcolm Turnbull has cast doubt over the future of an adviser to Christopher Pyne arrested in Malaysia after stripping during Sunday’s formula one Grand Prix race, saying he needs to consider his future.
The prime minister’s censure of Jack Walker, a senior adviser to the defence industry minister, follows the release and return of the so-called “budgie nine” to Australia after spending four days in detention in Malaysia.
On Friday Turnbull told FiveAA radio in Adelaide that when Pyne returns from an overseas trip he would speak to him about the incident in Malaysia, in which the nine Australian men were arrested after stripping to “budgie smuggler” swimming costumes emblazoned with the Malaysian flag.
Asked whether Walker still deserved a senior adviser’s role, Turnbull replied: “Certainly the young man involved needs to have a very hard look at himself and I’m sure he will be considering his future carefully.
“They apologised to the court, and that was appropriate, and they’re home or on their way home and that’s good,” he said.
Turnbull said he and the foreign affairs minister, Julie Bishop, had been “very circumspect” in public comments because they seek to help Australians in such situations return home.
“The Malaysian authorities were very lenient and the Australian men were very repentant, but they do need to reflect very seriously on their conduct.
“It’s just a reminder ... when you’re overseas you have to respect the laws of the country you’re visiting, just as we expect foreign visitors to respect and comply with the laws of Australia when they’re visiting us.”
After spending four nights in a Malaysian jail, eight of the men flew out of the country after pleading guilty to public nuisance charges on Thursday.
The men, aged between 25 and 29, were cautioned and discharged.
By Thursday night eight of the men had left Malaysia on a flight to Singapore, while the ninth, Pyne’s staffer Walker remained in Kuala Lumpur with his family overnight.
The men did not make any comment to the media as they waited for their flights at Kuala Lumpur international airport.
The men escaped a fine or a conviction when they appeared in court on Thursday before Judge Harith Sham, who told the men they had disrespected Malaysia.
One of the men, Thomas Whitworth, fainted after reading an letter of apology to the court in which he described the incident as a “moment of folly”.
“We are truly sorry that we have hurt the feelings of Malaysians in general,” he said.
The swimwear company, Budgy Smuggler, which produces swimwear with international flags on them, wished the men a “safe trip home”.
“We’ve produced over 50 flags without international incident and it is genuinely meant as a sign of embracing cultures and also often for people from other countries to embrace an Australian tradition,” the company wrote on Instagram.
“No offence was intended in the production of the pairs.”
