A nation’s chief of staff, James Ashby, says Brian Burston was a coward and had become a “text plague” set on making his life miserable and that of Pauline Hanson, a court said.
Under interrogation in Federal Court on Tuesday, Ashby said he received countless messages from Burston after the senator left One Nation for the United Australia party.
Mr.’s lawyer Burston, Bruce McClintock SC, asked Mr. Ashby if it was appropriate to describe his client as a “traitor” in an answer.
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He said it was because Mr Burston was a treacherous senator and “he has a habit of using that word himself”.
“Your client is a serial text plague,” Ashby said.
Ashby is testifying on behalf of her boss, Senator Hanson, who is being sued for defamation by Mr. Burston.
Burston says the One Nation leader accused him of sexual harassment on social media, via text message to his wife and during a TV interview.
The 74-year-old man denies all allegations as fully fabricated.
Ashby said Burston had a “staff revolving door” that were “cowards” fired by email, letter or text message, and it was reported that the senator was sexually harassing his staff.
Terri-lea Vairy told her in January 2019 that Mr. Burston made her “very uncomfortable,” that he had tried to put money on top of her, touched her all the time, and continually commented on her “sexy.”
“She said she apparently loved him. It’s no secret that I’ve been involved in a sexual harassment case … I didn’t want her to go down the same path as me,” Ashby said to dissuade her from talking to him. media.
Another staff member, Wendy Leach, also approached Mr Ashby saying Mr Burston had “offered him some good shit” because he wasn’t feeling well.
Mrs. Leach told Mr. Ashby that Mr. Burston unfairly fired her after telling her to overcome her falling in love with Mrs. Vairy.
Ashby told Senator Hanson that she had denounced allegations of sexual harassment and wrote a speech for him to read in parliament.
He denies it was a direct attack on Burston, saying he deliberately failed to nominate the senator, also wanting to fire a shot at other “embarrassed” members of parliament who misbehaved with his staff.
A day later, Ashby was informed that Burston had made historic allegations of sexual harassment against Mrs. Hanson that were to be published.
Ashby was waiting for Mrs. Hanson to leave dinner so the couple could “get ready” for the story.
He said he wanted to film Mrs. Hanson in the marble hall of parliament when Burston stepped into the frame.
Mr Burston told him to “fuck ***” and grabbed his mobile phone, he said.
McClintock said it was obvious Burston did not want to be filmed.
“It’s fair to say,” Ashby said.
“Don’t you think it was polite to stop filming?” said Mr. McClintock.
“No matter how polite you were to Mr. Burston, I had a fixation on making life very miserable for Senator Hanson and me,” Ashby said.
“You shouldn’t be courtesy of your customer.”
After the fight, Mr. Burston smeared the blood from his hand on Senator Hanson’s door “like a curse.”
“It bothered us all.”
Hanson granted an interview to Seven Network shortly after calling Burston’s accusations “so funny” and “an absolute joke,” the court said.
The trial continues.