I want to offer a different view to most of the mainstream news about the Andrew Fraser and Joe Tripodi situation.
Firstly I think you should see how it started.
Unless we read the NSW Legislative Assembly Hansard (Proof) we are at risk of possibly being misled to believe that Andrew Fraser has a drinking problem and is totally to blame for the incident.
In my opinion Mr Fraser was the victim of an unchecked, personally insensitive and provocative verbal attack. I do not agree with Mr Fraser's physical response to the attack. But after reading what was said to him I can understand his frustration and anger. People are dying in car accidents on that particularly notorious part of the Pacific Highway and still, we don't see any actual physical preventative safety measures being put in place.
What wasn't reported by the media was that Mr Fraser was not advised that the Minister for Roads would be visiting his electorate. The allegation by the Minister that Mr Fraser "was unable to be found in his own electorate" at the time of the Minister's visit was because he was travelling to Yass to attend the funeral of a colleague's Father.
Mr Fraser unreservedly apologised publicly to the Minister for Roads and members of the House for his actions.
It now seems that the media have settled on the most sensationalistic shallow headlines such as "disgraced", "brawl", "humiliated", "drunk", "lunged at him and grabbed him by the throat", blah, blah, blah......
You can see from the film footage of the incident that he was grabbed by the shirt and NOT the throat. It "labors" me to say, I smell a rat and a bloody big one at that.
It's plain to see Mr Fraser cares about his electorate from which he has a lot of support for his campaign to make the Pacific Highway safer. For those who have suffered tragedy, it's important to see someone trying to do something about it.
As Mr Fraser left Parliament House chocked up and with tears in his eyes he said "Do what you can to get this bloody highway fixed".
