Australian police have launched an investigation after Queensland MP Brittany Lauga said she was drugged and sexually assaulted.
Ms Lauga, the assistant minister for health, said she was attacked on an evening out in her constituency Yeppoon.
She said: “This could have happened to anyone and tragically, it does happen to many of us.”
The 37-year-old went to the police and then to hospital on April 28.
“Tests at the hospital confirmed the presence of drugs in my body which I did not take,” she said in a statement posted on social media.
She also said that the substance had impacted her “significantly” and that other women had contacted her who also “may have been drugged”.
Ms Lauga said: “It’s not OK. We should be able to enjoy socialising in our town without the risk of being drugged or assaulted.”
The Queensland Police Service confirmed it is investigating a sexual assault complaint relating to an incident in Yeppoon. It said no other reports in the same area have been made, but is asking anyone with information to contact them.
Crackdown pledge
Australia has experienced a spate of gender-based violence recently. A woman has been killed on average every four days in the country so far this year.
In April, Joel Cuachi stabbed six people to death in a Sydney shopping centre, five of whom were women. The New South Wales police commissioner said that it was “obvious” he focused on attacking women.
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, has branded domestic violence a “national crisis” and pledged to crackdown on misogynistic online content.
“We need to change the culture. We need to change attitudes. We need to change the legal system,” Mr Albanese told crowds at a rally against gender violence last week.
Ms Lauga has been in parliament for nearly a decade and was first elected to the seat of Keppel in 2015.
Queensland’s premier, Steven Miles, said the government was supporting Ms Lauga. “No one should have to go through what Brittany is going through,” he said.
Ms Lauga has said she would take “time to physically and emotionally heal” and asked for privacy.
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