Country Liberal Party member Joshua Burgoyne has escaped conviction after pleading guilty to careless driving. The member for Braitling says he's relieved the matter has been finalised taking aim at Police Minister Brent Potter for speaking publicly about the incident before charges were laid and claiming information about the crash was leaked to the media.
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TVTranscript
00:00 Leaving court fine in hand.
00:05 Country Liberal Party member Joshua Burgoyne pleading guilty to one count of careless driving
00:10 following a crash in Alice Springs last year.
00:13 It's been very difficult for me to obviously say anything.
00:15 I'm glad now that this process has taken place.
00:18 The member for Brayling was driving home at night from an event on August 26th when he
00:22 collided with another vehicle at the intersection of Norris Bell Avenue and the Stuart Highway.
00:27 A 66-year-old woman was taken to hospital following the crash.
00:32 Mr Burgoyne's lawyer told the judge his client had not been speeding and was sober at the
00:36 time, describing the incident as a "momentary lapse".
00:40 He stopped immediately.
00:41 He called triple zero.
00:43 He did everything you'd expect a good citizen to do.
00:46 Mr Burgoyne was ordered to pay a $1,500 fine plus a victim's levy of $150.
00:52 The judge acknowledged there had been an element of extracurial punishment due to extensive
00:57 media reporting surrounding the charges, but said the non-conviction was not special treatment
01:02 for a politician.
01:04 Speaking outside court, Mr Burgoyne said his name had been dragged through the mud, taking
01:09 a swipe at NT Police Minister Brent Potter, who called on the member to come clean just
01:15 days after Mr Burgoyne's involvement in the crash was reported by the ABC.
01:21 This was leaked to the media.
01:23 There were incorrect information provided.
01:27 The police minister came out on a Friday before I'd even been served my court documents.
01:31 He seemed to know more about the charges I would be facing than I did at that point.
01:35 The opposition leader doubling down on her minister's claims.
01:39 The CMPN Josh Burgoyne has been entirely transparent over this entire process.
01:44 The person who hasn't been is the police minister.
01:47 In a statement, Brent Potter said, "I found out that Josh Burgoyne was facing charges
01:51 from the media and Josh seems more worried about conspiracy theories than any care or
01:57 compassion for the victims of his actions."
02:00 Despite having the matter heard in Darwin, Mr Burgoyne won't attend parliamentary sittings
02:04 tomorrow, instead returning to Alice Springs for a funeral.
02:08 [BLANK_AUDIO]