by Emily Baker, ABC
A high-profile Tasmanian Liberal candidate has been accused of tricking a love interest into believing he was a man named Terry who worked as an engineer and lived in Melbourne.
In reality, the man was Adam Brooks, a former member of the Tasmanian Parliament who resigned after the Integrity Commission found he misled former premier Will Hodgman about the true nature of his involvement with one of his businesses while serving as mining minister.
The north-west multi-millionaire is running for the north-western seat of Braddon again in Saturday’s state election.
A woman, who asked to remain anonymous, said she met Mr Brooks on dating website OKCupid in 2019.
She knew him as Terry — an identity he backed via text with a photo of what appears to be a VicRoads drivers’ licence, featuring a photo of Mr Brooks.
The text was captioned: “I’m real see”.
But the woman only received that photo after asking to see his identification, suspicious her long-distance partner was not who he said he was.
Cassy O’Connor MP | Greens Leader and Women spokesperson, 30 April 2021
If Gutwein Won’t Dump Brooks, Hopefully Braddon Will
The allegations of Braddon Liberal candidate and disgraced former Minister, Adam Brooks’ lying, forgery and catfishing are just awful.
This is a man who lied to Parliament three times, then lied to the Premier of the day as a Minister. Mr Brooks is not a man of honesty or integrity, and is not a fit person to be an elected representative.
A serial fibber, Mr Brooks now wants voters to believe him over a woman who has come forward as an alleged victim of his identity fraud.
It seems even Mr Brooks is ashamed of his public record.
If Peter Gutwein doesn’t have the integrity to dump Mr Brooks from the Liberal ticket, hopefully the people of Braddon will. Certainly, the women of Braddon must be thinking twice about Adam Brooks after this latest ugly, embarrassing situation he seems to have created for himself.
This behaviour includes allegations of lying, forgery and duping a women into a relationship. Mr Brooks’ character is known, this is now a question of Mr Gutwein’s.
Media release – Sue Hickey MP, 30 April 2021
Shame on Premier Peter Gutwein – Minister for the Prevention of Family Violence
Premier Peter Gutwein should be ashamed of his support for Braddon candidate Adam Brooks for accepting his denials of inappropriate behaviour without even investigating the allegations.
Independent Clark MP Sue Hickey said the Premier had expressed is support for Mr Brooks on at least three occasions, despite serious allegations concerning the Braddon candidate’s behaviour.
“His reaction to Mr Brooks’ alleged abuse of a woman’s trust highlights the Liberals nationwide attitude to, and lack of respect for, women. 51 percent of the country are female. Why is it that the Liberals always believe the men’s version of events?”
Today, when asked again, Mr Gutwein said: “I have more important things to concern myself with than Mr Brooks’ love life.”
“This is more than a story of Mr Brooks’ private life, this is about his sense of honour, decency and values, which are important for a leader, and the electors, to consider” Ms Hickey said.
“This is another epic fail of judgement by the Premier and will disappoint many people in the community.
“I personally find it disgusting. How does the Premier’s support for Mr Brooks demonstrate his leadership on respect for women?
“What belief and trust can we have in the Liberal Government’s policies on women when the Premier just laughs off these serious accusations with the excuse that ‘He’s a good-looking bloke’?
“The entire affair is sordid and Mr Gutwein owes it to Tasmania and particularly to Tasmanian women to disassociate himself from this mess” Ms Hickey said.
Ella Haddad MP, Shadow Attorney General, 30 April 2021
Gutwein’s weak response to serious Brooks allegations gives all Tasmanians true picture of his leadership
Peter Gutwein must either sack disgraced Braddon candidate Adam Brooks today or tell Tasmanians why his leadership is so fundamentally weak.
Shadow Attorney General Ella Haddad said now that the true extent of his Braddon candidate’s allegedly duplicitous behaviour had been exposed, it was critical Peter Gutwein explain why Brooks remained endorsed as a Liberal candidate.
“This is an extraordinary deception – both by Adam Brooks who has denied any involvement and by Peter Gutwein who dismissed serious questions without investigating,” Ms Haddad said.
“Adam Brooks has manipulated and hurt at least one woman by allegedly assuming a fake identify. There is a pattern of behaviour in his dishonesty and it raises serious questions about his character and Peter Gutwein’s judgement.
“Peter Gutwein has for the past several days been treating these very serious allegations as if this whole matter is a joke.
“It is far from a joke. There are now serious allegations – among a litany of other things – that Mr Brooks falsified official identification and lied about his identity.
“Making a false document is a serious crime under Victorian law with a maximum 10 year prison sentence (Victorian Crimes Act s83A).
“Peter Gutwein lacks judgement and he lacks leadership.
“He should attempt to show both now and stand Adam Brooks down as a candidate”
Media release – Sarah Lovell MLC, Labor Member for Rumney, 30 April 2021
Adam Brooks needs to explain
Labor Campaign spokesperson Sarah Lovell said Adam Brooks is denying links to a business card for a “Terry Brooks” as well as to online dating profiles for a “Gav” and a “trb44eng”.
“Adam Brooks lied to Will Hodgman so he needs to explain to Peter Gutwein,” Ms Lovell said.
“Everyone knows when Adam Brooks was caught in a lie he kept lying.
“Anyone who saw Adam Brooks’ career-ending performance in Budget estimates – where he denied using his mining business email whilst serving as Mining Minister – knows this.
“Adam Brooks needs to explain matters regarding the business card and dating profiles.
“Adam Brooks needs to front the media and explain himself. The people of Braddon deserve at least that before they vote.
“The truth is coming out and Peter Gutwein needs to wake up.
“If Peter Gutwein has any self-respect, he needs to stand up for himself and sack Brooks from his Braddon team and from the Liberal Party.”
