Expelled WA Labor Party member Ben Dawkins has failed to convince a magistrate the media should be banned from his next appearance over family violence charges.

April 26, 2023

Expelled West Australian Labor Party member Ben Dawkins has failed to convince a court the media should be banned from his next appearance over family violence charges.

Dawkins, 51, appeared via video-link in Perth Magistrates Court on Wednesday in relation to his conviction in February on more than 40 charges of breaching a domestic violence restraining order.

During the brief hearing Dawkins applied for the court to be closed in May when he is next scheduled to have his long-running matter heard.

He told Magistrate Gavin MacLean he was a member of parliament and the hearing was likely to be the subject of media reporting that could upset his wife.

“I don’t want to trigger another tirade of problems for my wife,” he said.

Mr MacLean declined the application.

He told Dawkins it was not to protect his wife and “squarely for your own interests”.

WA Labor on Monday expelled the already suspended Dawkins from the party over the criminal charges.

“In February 2023, in light of Mr Dawkins pleading guilty to numerous counts of breaching a family violence restraining order, I brought a charge against him under the WA Labor Rules, asking that he be expelled from the Party,’ state secretary Ellie Whiteaker said in a statement on Tuesday.

“The WA Labor Disputes Committee considered the matter and recommended Mr Dawkins be expelled from the WA Labor Party – a recommendation supported by the Party’s Administrative Committee.”

Dawkins will reappear in Perth Magistrates Court on May 8.