New charges against SA MP accused of assaulting wife
Police have laid three new charges against an independent MP who now stands accused of assaulting his wife on six occasions.
South Australian MP Nick McBride was originally charged with three aggravated counts of assaulting his wife, Katherine, on April 10 at Conmurra, on the Limestone Coast.
Court records show that when those charges were heard in Naracoorte Magistrates Court on Wednesday, another three charges of aggravated assault were laid against McBride, 55.
The new charges related to alleged incidents on January 7 and September 16, 2024, and on January 2 this year, also at Conmurra.
All six charges were adjourned until December 3 for a pre-trial conference in the same court.
On Thursday, McBride’s electorate office said he had no comment on the matter.
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McBride was elected to the safe Liberal seat of MacKillop in the state’s South East in 2018, but quit the party in 2023 citing “dark forces” were at play in the Liberal Party, and has since sat on the crossbench.
He appeared in court for the first time in May and is yet to enter any pleas, but has denied the allegations.
McBride has previously said that he intends to run for his seat again at the state election next March.
He told the ABC on June 12 he understood the court proceedings would extend into June or July next year and he planned to stand for re-election.
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“I think it’s going to be a really tough ask, but I went into politics with the idea of at least two or three terms,” he said.
“I’m going to stick to my resolve … that I initially had and I’m not going to let these personal issues detract from that resolve.”
McBride is also a grazier and his family has owned Conmurra Station since the 1930s.
His family business AJ & PA McBride is one of South Australia’s most prominent pastoralist businesses and is more than 100 years old. The business recently listed the largest farm in Victoria for sale.
McBride’s great-grandfather was Sir Philip McBride, a founding member of the Liberal Party and defence minister in the Menzies government.
On Tuesday, former Mt Gambier MP Troy Bell was sent to jail for at least two-and-a-half years for stealing $435,000 of public money that was meant to be spent on disadvantaged school students.
In September 2024, a District Court jury found him guilty of 20 counts of theft and five aggravated counts of dishonest dealings for crimes committed between 2009 and 2013.
The ex-Liberal MP, successfully ran for the state seat in the south east as an independent after he was charged.
Bell, 52, is yet to face a further 52 deception charges over the alleged misuse of the country members’ accommodation allowance.
– with AAP
