The Victorian One Nation leader, Warren Pickering, has admitted he “made mistakes” in his ۲۰s, including using ecstasy, methamphetamines and marijuana, losing his licence multiple times for drink driving and hurting people he loved.
But he has denied claims by his ex-partner, published by The Australian, that he smoked ice – also known as crystal meth – in front of children and said he was considering legal action against the publication at a press conference on Tuesday. Guardian Australia and the ABC were barred from attending the press conference.
Accompanied by James Ashby, One Nation’s national director, and his daughter and stepson, Pickering said he was “no angel” as a young man and used illegal drugs in his ۲۰s.
“Never would I have ever said that I was somebody who was a drug addict. I did use them … as a young man and I’m not proud of that,” Pickering said.
He listed ecstasy, methamphetamine, speed and marijuana, but denied using ice or smoking it while his children were home.
“No, I did not,” Pickering said, when asked directly.
Pressed by a reporter about whether he had used ice, Pickering said “ice is not on that list.”
When the reporter said methamphetamines are ice, Pickering replied: “Well, speed”.
“Look, guys, I’m clearly not as familiar with the terms … as you would like me to be,” he said.
“I wasn’t an experienced drug taker.”
Pickering also confirmed he lost his driver’s licence three times for drink driving.
“I believe I lost my licence for drink driving as an ۱۸-year-old, and again as a ۲۰-year-old, and then probably a decade later, I believe they were low-level drink driving,” he said.
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Pickering said his actions “hurt people I loved, and I will live with that forever”. But he said he had “changed his life dramatically” for the sake of his daughter and three stepsons, stopped using drugs and joined the Australian defence force, which he said gave him a sense of purpose.
“That’s what inspired me to engage in the political sphere to provide service to community in a different way, post-service,” he said.
Ashby also spoke, telling reporters a handwritten note from Pickering published by The Australian, which references “sexual deviance”, was in relation to “behaviour that involved the couple’s open relationship”.
“They opened that relationship to a third person, and at the same time, Mr Pickering was exploring his own sexuality,” Ashby said.
Pickering said he was “working with the lawyers” to get the stories “taken” down and was receiving advice about possible defamation action.
Reporters from The Australian were able to attend the press conference at Crown Casino. However, reporters from both Guardian Australia and the ABC were asked by Ashby to leave after identifying the media outlet they worked for.
