KEY POINTS:
Pressure is mounting on Prime Minister Kevin Rudd to dump besieged backbencher Belinda Neal from the Labor caucus following claims she pressured staff to lie in statutory declarations.
Neal is already under police investigation following the swearing of contradictory declarations by staff at a Gosford, New South Wales,
restaurant, and by dining companions.
Neal yesterday stood down as chair of the House of Representatives standing committee on communications until the police investigation has been completed, but remains a member of both that body and the House legal and constitutional affairs committee.
Staff at Iguanas restaurant and bar alleged in statutory declarations that Neal, husband of NSW Education Minister John Della Bosca, abused and threatened them during a wine-fuelled incident three weeks ago. Neal and Della Bosca denied the allegations, produced four statements to support them, and later received an apology from the restaurant.
But Della Bosca, who allegedly drafted the apology, has been suspended from his job pending the outcome of the police investigation.
Neal, MP for one of Labor's most marginal federal seats, could now face criminal charges following allegations she withheld three declarations and pressured staff into untrue statements.
Former staffer Melinda Batten told Channel Nine's A Current Affair on Monday night that she had succumbed to Neal's demand that she omit from her declaration key recollections of the evening.
Batten also claimed her original declaration had been shredded by Neal.
Swearing a false statutory declaration is a crime carrying a maximum sentence of five years' jail.
If police accept Batten's allegations, Neal could be charged with conspiring to pervert the course of justice, which carries a maximum 14 years' jail term, and, if convicted, expelled from Parliament.
Following Monday night's allegations, Attorney-General Robert McClelland asked the Federal Police to investigate, but the AFP and NSW police agreed the matter should be left with the State force.
Opposition Leader Brendan Nelson yesterday demanded Rudd act against Neal, who cannot be ejected from Parliament unless she is convicted and sentenced to more than a year's jail.
"The very least Mr Rudd should do now is to show leadership, to make a decision, and that decision should be to exclude Belinda Neal from the Government, from the Labor Party caucus, until we get the outcome of the police inquiry."
In Sydney, Della Bosca is more secure. Provided he is not charged, he will almost certainly return to the front bench.
