Liberal MP Simon Ramsay has been charged with drink-driving after he was caught behind the wheel of his car, despite being four times over the legal alcohol limit.
The western Victorian MP was stopped by police at around 11.30pm on Saturday, in Barwon Heads, near Geelong, Victoria, after his car was seen veering onto the wrong side of the road.
Ramsay, who sits in the Upper House in Victoria’s parliament, stepped down from his role as shadow parliamentary secretary following the incident on Saturday evening and admitted it would haunt him forever.
“I’m not hiding from anything. I feel like an idiot,” he told the Geelong Advertiser. “I’m really gutted that I did such a thing and the actions are inexcusable. The consequences will haunt me forever.”
The state politician is thought to have spent the day at the football where he consumed several alcoholic beverages, with sources suggesting to the Geelong Advertiser that he was struggling due to the breakdown of his relationship.
Following his arrest, Ramsay made the decision to step down from his position as shadow parliamentary secretary. He handed his resignation in to Victoria’s Leader of the Opposition Matthew Guy, who is said to have asked Ramsay to “consider his future” as an Upper House MP.
Speaking on ABC Radio on Monday, Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews said it is up to Ramsay whether he will remain in parliament. He said: “In all of my dealings with Simon Ramsay he has always been … a decent person. I’m sure we don’t agree on many things but I’m not about making what would be a very difficult time for him worse.”
Ramsay was elected as an MP for the Western Victoria Region in 2010 and spent four years as president of the Victorian Farmers Federation, until 2009.
He has already been preselected for another four-year term in state parliament, but is yet to confirm if he will continue in the role after being caught on the weekend.