Nova

We awoke this morning to news that Labor Senator Nova Peris had sought government funding to pay for her male friend's trip to Australia so they could have a ten day bonkathon. Well, that’s the gist of it, if you only read the headline in the NT News.

Throw in some salacious details, courtesy of emails between Ms Peris and her Olympic medallist Ato Boldon, add the fact that Ms Peris was married, plus some vague figures, and all hell breaks loose across Australia's front pages. 

Assuming it's all true, there's no way to make this good for Senator Peris, but is it really as bad as the NT News' front page would have us believe?

In a word, no.

Ms Peris was chosen by Prime Minister Julia Gillard as a ‘Captain’s Pick’ for to run for a Senate seat. At the time of the affair, Ms Peris was an Athletics Australia ambassador and communication officer with the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies.

Did Ms Peris cheat on her husband? Absolutely. Did the planning of the affair involve some saucy emails between the participants? Yep. So far, Ms Peris's “crimes” are all of a personal nature.

The real concerns here surround the funds Ms Peris obtained to bring Ato Boldon to Australia. Here are the things we don't know:

1.       Was there any need to bring an international athlete to Australia for this purpose? Had Ato Boldon been unavailable, would another athlete have been selected? 

2.       Was Mr Boldon's visit to Australia of a typical duration for a visit of this nature? 

3.       Would the agencies that paid for Mr Boldon's visit normally fund a trip of this type? 

4.       Was the fee paid to Mr Boldon typical for a visit of this kind?

If the answers to these questions are 'yes', then it can be argued that Ms Peris and Mr Boldon took advantage of a situation she engineered, but in doing so, it didn't cost taxpayers any extra for Ms Peris to have a jolly good time with Mr Boldon. 

If he was paid more than would be usual, stayed more than a day or two longer than was strictly warranted, or somehow benefitted financially more than would be considered normal, there's a case to answer.

If Ms Peris secured a reasonable amount of funds from usual sources, the headline outrage this morning, which started with the irrepressible NT News, is nothing more than a cynical political attack designed to embarrass a Labor Senator who was hand-picked by former Prime Minister Julia Gillard. It’s also a handy distraction from the other outrage of the day – that of increasing fuel prices.

Senator Peris has denied any wrongdoing, although she has not denied the substance of the emails. Mr Boldon has stated on his Facebookpage that 

"The article recently written by the Northern Territory News, includes gross fabrications.

"I will be following the senator's lead, including, but not limited to, pursuing all legal action possible for this malicious misrepresentation of the details surrounding my presence in Australia in 2010."

For the record, Ms Peris is available for speaking engagements. Her fee starts at $5000, plus expenses.