Senator Nova Peris has told the Senate that intimate emails published by the NT News were part of a long-running child access dispute with an aggrieved party, which had involved blackmail attempts against her and her family.
She claimed the newspaper was aware of this when it published the exchanges allegedly between her and a Trinidadian Olympic medallist, Ato Boldon.
Peris addressed the Senate in response to allegations published in the NT News on Wednesday that she sought public funds through Athletics Australia and other organisations for Boldon to come to Australia as an ambassador for young Indigenous athletes, so that she could have an affair with him.
Boldon came to Australia in April 2010 as an ambassador for Jump Start to London – a national talent and identification project program.
At the time she allegedly sought the funds, Peris was an Athletics Australia ambassador and communications officer for the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies. She was married to Daniel Batman.
On Wednesday, Boldon labelled the NT News report a “gross fabrication”, and threatened legal action.
Peris reiterated in her statement to the Senate on Thursday that she had done nothing wrong, and said she was “overwhelmed” by the support she had received.
The Australian Sports Commission told Guardian Australia on Thursday that an independent audit had found no misuse of funds it had provided to Athletics Australia to run the Jump Start to London program.
“The excuse for the reports is the claim that I was responsible for a misuse of public funds. This claim is baseless,” Peris said.
She said the emails were part of a file of information about Boldon’s visit which had been used by an aggrieved party in a long-running child access and estate dispute. She said the documents had been used in attempts to blackmail her by the aggrieved party and a female representative.
“I did not realise at the time he was referring to these emails,” Peris told the Senate, referring to the alleged blackmailer.
“On 21 March this year, a representative of that aggrieved party emailed me and said that unless his wishes were granted she would take such action, and I quote, ‘will only result in causing major trauma for everyone, especially the children and damage the reputation of some stakeholders’.
“Three weeks ago, on 9 October, I received a further email from the representative of this aggrieved party.
“The first line read: ‘I am sending this communication to you today to ensure there is no mistake as to who is responsible for releasing the information in relation to you.’
“The release and publication of these emails is an attempt to extract money and embarrass me and my family.
“With legal options now exhausted, this other party has turned to the media.”
The NT News was aware of this before it published, she said.
“In dealing with these threats I have been faced with the dilemma of responding to defend my political career, or responding to defend my children,” she said. “It’s not actually a dilemma. I have always put my children first and will continue to do so.”
The NT News published what it claimed were intimate exchanges between Peris and Boldon, at a time when, Peris told the Senate, she was separated from Batman. Batman is now deceased.
“There are serious questions about how the NT News got the emails and [I] cannot comment on their veracity,” she told the Senate. “What I can say is the views attributed to me over the past few days, based on the publications of selected words contained in private emails which I don’t have, certainly don’t reflect my views. They don’t reflect my values. The evidence of this is the life I have led, and continue to lead.”
She said the incident would not stop her serving the Northern Territory as a senator or advocating on behalf of Aboriginal Australians, pointing to a report tabled in the NT parliament which showed the number of Aboriginal children taken from their parents and placed in care had increased by 26% last year.
“This and many other stories like it deserve this nation’s attention,” Peris told the Senate.
“Each day the sun will rise and each day the sun will set. Today is one of those days,” she said, ending her speech.
News Corp stood by the story as it dealt with “an issue of public importance,” a spokesman for the media organisation said.
“Namely the alleged misuse of taxpayer funds. The emails, which we are satisfied are 100% legitimate, were volunteered to the NT News by a credible source.”
A number of Labor MPs were in the Senate to support Peris, after releasing numerous public statements in her defence on Wednesday.
Senior Labor figures have spoken in support of Peris, who was elected to the upper house in 2013 after she was named by former prime minister Julia Gillard as her preferred Labor candidate for the Northern Territory.
