MP accused of domestic violence remanded in custody
A state lawmaker accused of assaulting a woman will remain behind bars after a court rejected his bail request for “special reasons”.
South Australian independent Nick McBride, 56, was arrested at Conmurra on the Limestone Coast on Saturday and charged with assaulting a woman he knew.
His lawyer, Jane Abbey KC, applied for bail when he appeared in the Adelaide Magistrates’ Court via video link from Mt Gambier on Monday.
He was accused of aggravated assault, breach of bail and breach of an intervention order in relation to the alleged incident and was refused bail by police following his arrest.
Judge Melanie Burton noted that changes were being made to the Bail Act in 2024, meaning McBride was the intended applicant due to the allegations against him.
This means that there is a presumption against bail and for bail to be approved the application must show that special circumstances exist.
“We say there are special reasons for granting bail,” Ms Abbey told the court.
“It should be made clear that the charges will be vigorously defended.”
After a brief pause, Ms Abbey accepted that her client was a compulsory applicant and requested a report on her client’s suitability for house arrest.
McBride, wearing a white shirt and beige shorts, bowed his head.
He spoke only to confirm his name and to indicate that he could hear the hearing.
He was previously charged with three counts of aggravated assault on the woman in Conmurra on April 10, and a further three charges of aggravated assault were added in October. McBride will return to court on those six charges on January 30.
Stating that the home detention report will be submitted to the court on January 6, the prosecutor’s office stated that they could make statements regarding the application on that date.
Commenting on the case on Sunday, Prime Minister Peter Malinauskas said the situation was “surprising” and that he was “not quite sure what to say about it”. Opposition Leader Ashton Hurn described the allegations as “incredibly worrying”.
McBride won the safe Liberal seat of MacKillop in the state’s southeast in 2018, but left the party in 2023 and has been sitting on the crossbench ever since.
McBride has previously said he plans to run for the seat again in the state election in March.
He is also a grazier and his family has owned Conmurra Station since the 1930s.
His great-grandfather was Sir Philip McBride, a founding member of the Liberal Party and defense minister in the Menzies government.
