Will Fowles apology: Victorian MP airs addiction, mental health issues

The Victorian Labor MP who smashed up a Canberra hotel room after a night out has apologised to his constituents and promised he is now sober but refused to answer a simple question.

Will Fowles, who sensationally destroyed a door at the Abode Hotel in July, says he was “crippled by anxiety” at the time and that he made a “gargantuan mistake”.

Mr Fowles, 41, was taken away in the back of a police car but not charged. He agreed to pay for the damages to the room and has been on a leave of absence since.

The representative of the seat of Burwood in Melbourne’s east plans to return to work on Monday and spoke with reporters this morning while being supported by his wife Jessica.

“Words can’t express just how sorry I am that things spiralled out of control the way that they did some 11 weeks ago,” he said.

“I’ve had the opportunity to do the work, to have some serious periods of therapy, and of reflection, to have lost some weight, to have worked hard on becoming a better representative.

“Whilst anxiety was the reason, it’s not the excuse … it wasn’t acceptable behaviour.”

But when speaking with 3AW’s Neil Mitchell, Mr Fowles refused to discuss the details of the mistakes he made in the past or whether he was taking illicit drugs.

“What have you been using,” Mitchell asked.

“I’m not going to go into the details of those things that happened in the past,” Mr Fowles said.

“Will you answer whether you took illicit drugs?” Mitchell asked.

“I’m just not going to go into the details of the things that have happened in the past. That’s on the advice of my medical professionals.”

Mr Fowles said he had spoken candidly with his colleagues, including Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews, but his doctors had advised him not to revisit his mistakes or speak about them.

“My focus is very much on the future,” he said. “It’s not good for my mental health to be dwelling on all the mistakes I’ve made. I’ve made some unbelievable mistakes. I’ve done some things I can’t even remember.”

Mr Fowles returned to his accommodation about 2am on the day he destroyed the hotel room door.

“I went to my room, I slept,” he told 3AW. “I got up to try and retrieve my luggage. That anxiety became overwhelming and I made a really bad decision in response to it.”

Mr Fowles said when he went to get his luggage from behind reception there was nobody there. Worried he would miss his flight, he flew into a fit of rage.

Opposition upper house MP David Davis, whose electorate overlaps Mr Fowles’, said the MP must go.

“People deserve a member who is doing the work, a member who is doing the local advocacy,” Mr Davis told reporters on Friday.

“I don’t think he’s delivering for his electorate, and in that sense he should go.”

Mr Fowles said he would advocate for mental health sufferers to be given the same workplace support he had received.

— with AAP

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