A Tasmanian councillor has told a court he did not flash his "flaccid penis" in front of a Crown prosecutor and her son on a beach in the state's north-west.
Waratah-Wynyard councillor Darren Fairbrother, who has been on council since 1996 and whose official council bio page lists him as "quite competent", pleaded not guilty last year to a charge of prohibited behaviour in relation to an incident at Boat Harbour in January.
Mr Fairbrother is alleged to have exposed himself three times to Crown prosecutor Kate Brown and her son.
In the Burnie Magistrates Court, Mr Fairbrother was questioned further about his movements on January 6 by prosecutor Phillipa Edwards.
"You deliberately exposed your genitals in their direction, didn't you?" Ms Edwards asked.
"No, I did not," he replied.
"Your penis was not erect, and you flashed it in their direction, didn't you?"
"No, I did not. I never flashed my genitals at Ms Brown or her son," he replied.
"Three times you opened your towel wide in their direction and you showed them your flaccid penis, didn't you Mr Fairbrother?"
"No, I did not," he replied.
Councillor says he had a G-string on
Mr Fairbrother, who is described by council as having a "no-frills approach", said he was wearing a G-string underneath his string-drawn shorts when they fell after becoming snagged on a rock.
"These weren't tied up tightly on the day," he said.
The councillor told the court his buttocks was exposed for a period of around 10 seconds, but his G-string meant "not 100 per cent of it" was showing.
"At no time were my genitals exposed to Ms Brown or anybody else on that day," he said.
"You're a middle-aged man, you're a politician, isn't the case when you are on the beach, if your shorts fall down, you'd just pull them back up?" Ms Edwards said.
"No, I didn't on this day," he replied.
The court heard Mr Fairbrother was confronted by Ms Brown's husband, Launceston magistrate Simon Brown.
Mr Fairbrother was also questioned about his relationship with his wife, who took the witness stand.
Susan Fairbrother told the court she had known her husband to wear a black G-string, but did not know whether he had it on that day.
She said she believed the allegation against her husband was "not true".
"I don't recall every detail of that day," she said.
In his closing remarks, Mr Fairbrother's lawyer Paul Sullivan said there was doubt over the reliability and impartiality of the prosecution witnesses, arguing he should be found not guilty.
The prosecution argued some evidence given by Mr Fairbrother was "fanciful" and said his conduct on the day showed "brazen arrogance".
South Australian magistrate Teresa Anderson had to be brought into the state for the case due to the status of the witnesses.
She will hand down a verdict in April.
