Luke Gosling now faces two alleged assaults on David Connolly, and he is keeping the envoy job

🔴 UPDATE, 4.35pm, 31 July 2026

Gosling faced the Darwin Local Court on Friday, the day after his arrest, and walked out with his bail loosened but a 15 metre exclusion zone around David Connolly. The court also heard the allegation isn't one shove. It's two, about half an hour apart, and his own barrister told the court there is not a single witness to either.

Police allege the first incident was Gosling running into Connolly from behind. For the second, Judge Stephen Geary read aloud from the police summary. "Doesn't it say in the second incident that he sees him come at him, braces himself, there's what you can call a hip and shoulder collision and then he says, according to the precis, that the defendant continued past and has drawn back his left elbow and thrust it rearward, striking him to the upper right rib area," Geary said. Both are allegations, both are contested, and neither has been proven.

Gosling was in court asking to vary his bail so he can keep turning up to public events where Connolly will also be. His barrister Marty Aust argued that without it, his client's ability to do the job he was elected to do would be severely hampered. Prosecutors fought it, telling the court Connolly has concerns for his safety and has been withdrawing from public events since 18 July because he expects Gosling might be there.

Aust called the case "incredibly weak". "Notwithstanding the numerous people (at the event), there is not one piece of corroboration. Not a single witness," he said. "The outline makes it clear what this relies on is complaint evidence from the Administrator, nothing else."

Geary called the allegations "very serious" but said Gosling is entitled to the presumption of innocence, and gave him the variation with strings attached. Gosling's office has to tell the Administrator's office within 48 hours if he plans to attend an event, and he can't come within 15 metres of Connolly once he's there. The judge made him stand while the conditions were read to him.

"You need to comply with that bail," Geary told him. "You need to be very careful of that bail. If you're at a public event and go within 15 metres of him you will be in breach of your bail."

The matter was adjourned to a preliminary examination on 30 September, and Geary warned it could take 18 months to reach a conclusion.

Outside court Gosling said again that he's contesting the charges, and confirmed he has spoken to the Prime Minister about staying in the job. "I obviously really welcome the decision of the judge to allow me to get out and do my job that I was elected to do, to represent the people of Darwin and Palmerston," he said. "I have spoken with the Prime Minister and just been clear that I'm going to contest these allegations and that I will continue to serve."

🔴 UPDATE, 5.20pm, 30 July 2026

Luke Gosling has broken his silence on Instagram after being charged with two counts of assault on the Northern Territory Administrator, calling it "a strange morning" and saying he'll keep doing his job. His lawyer says the arrest itself might have had "some political basis", and the Coalition has hardened its demand that Anthony Albanese stand him aside today.

"Hey crew, you've probably heard the news by now," Gosling wrote to his followers. "I can't say much because the matter is before the courts, but it's been a strange morning, to say the least." "I've got a job to do, and I'll be working hard, as always, to serve the people of Darwin and Palmerston," he wrote, thanking everyone who had reached out to him and his office. He signed off: "I'll stay focused on doing my job and building a stronger Territory and better nation for all of us."

[ ADD LUKE GOSLING INSTAGRAM POST HERE ]

Gosling's lawyer Marty Aust went further outside the Palmerston watch house. He said it was "particularly concerning that in a matter of this type, police resorted to the power of arrest where it could easily have been dealt with on notice here or a summons", and that "it's a concern that might have some political basis behind it". Aust said the charge is "fully and completely contested" and that his client is cooperating with police.

The Coalition isn't waiting for the court. Opposition defence spokesman James Paterson said that while everyone is entitled to the presumption of innocence, "an arrest for assault requires him to immediately stand down from his duties. The PM must act today." Liberal senator Dave Sharma said Gosling should stay in Parliament but go to the backbench, because "it's not tenable for him to remain as an office holder, as a special envoy in the Albanese government".

Opposition defence industry spokesman Phil Thompson wouldn't join the pile on, telling News24 he holds to the presumption of innocence for anyone charged, but he said the charges "are very serious and should be treated as such" and that the Prime Minister "will have to address this at some stage".

Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke gave the same answer as the Prime Minister's office, telling a press conference that legal processes had commenced and that the matter had "only unfolded this morning".

Federal Labor MP Luke Gosling, 54, has been charged with two counts of assault on NT Administrator David Connolly, the King's representative in the Territory. Northern Territory Police charged Gosling after arresting him on Thursday morning and released him on bail, The Australian reported. News24 reported that the arrest followed a week of investigation.

Gosling is Labor's member for Solomon, the Darwin and Palmerston seat, and he's Anthony Albanese's Special Envoy for Defence, Veterans' Affairs and Northern Australia. Labor has endorsed him in Solomon at every federal election since 2013. Albanese is resisting calls to stand him aside, and The Australian understands the government intends to let him keep both roles. "There is a legal process underway. It would be inappropriate to comment further," a spokesman for the Prime Minister said.

He denies the allegation outright. "These are ridiculous allegations that I categorically deny," Gosling said in a statement to News24 last week. "I've had no dealings with the Administrator since congratulating him following the announcement of his appointment late last year."

A charge isn't a finding. Gosling has denied the allegation categorically, he's entered no plea, and nothing has been tested in a court. The matter is now before the Darwin Local Court, and that's the only place it gets decided.

What Northern Territory Police say happened at the Darwin Thai festival on 18 July

The alleged incident happened at the NT Thailand Grand Festival at Civic Park in Darwin on Saturday 18 July, News24 reported. Police have described it only as a public event. Gosling and Connolly were both part of the festival's official proceedings.

"It is alleged the incident occurred during a public event on Saturday 18 July 2026," police media director Mark Wilton said in a statement reported by the NT Independent. That outlet reported the allegation is that Gosling elbowed Connolly in the torso.

The Administrator's office confirmed it was the one that went to police. "An incident occurred during His Honour the Administrator's official attendance at a community event over the weekend," Connolly's official secretary Craig Kitchen said. "The matter has been referred to the Northern Territory Police Force."

Two detectives went to Connolly's office on the Tuesday and spent more than two hours taking his statement. Police confirmed they arrested him on Thursday morning. He was held in custody, then charged with two counts of assault on the Administrator and released on bail.

Luke Gosling denied it three times, twice to News24 reporters who asked him directly

News24 put the question to Gosling twice earlier in July, before the arrest. He answered "no" the first time and "no mate" the second, the masthead reported, and then issued the written statement rejecting Connolly's account.

Police haven't said anything publicly about how the alleged incident came about, and no allegation about a motive has been made public.

David Connolly is the King's man in the Territory and Luke Gosling called his appointment a disgrace

Connolly was sworn in as Administrator in February. The role is the Territory's equivalent of a state governor, the King's representative in the NT, and it's meant to sit above party politics.

Gosling didn't want him in it and said so publicly, calling the appointment a "captain's pick" by Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro and "a disgrace".

"The Administrator holds an important position in the Northern Territory and that's what makes this such a bad decision," Gosling said at the time. "A really bad decision because there's been a deliberate decision by the Chief Minister of the Northern Territory to go with an exclusionary individual rather than an inclusionary person that would have brought Territorians together and represented all Territorians."

His federal Labor colleagues Marion Scrymgour and Malarndirri McCarthy strongly opposed the appointment too, News24 reported.

All of that was on the public record months before 18 July. Labor left Gosling in place as its envoy for Northern Australia through every bit of it.

Labor endorsed Luke Gosling five times over and Anthony Albanese handed him the envoy job

None of Gosling's standing is accidental, and that's where the questions land for Labor. The party preselected him for Solomon in 2013, when he lost to sitting Country Liberal MP Natasha Griggs. It endorsed him again in 2016, when he took the seat on a swing of 7.4 points, and again in 2019, 2022 and 2025.

Albanese named him Special Envoy for Defence, Veterans' Affairs and Northern Australia in a reshuffle on 29 July 2024, and he kept the role after the 2025 election. That role isn't won at a ballot box. The Prime Minister hands it out and the Prime Minister can take it back.

Gosling's campaigning has drawn a Defence rebuke before. During the 2016 campaign the Australian Defence Force issued a directive to retract advertising that showed him in military uniform, as was reported at the time. Gosling said the restrictions didn't apply because he was "no longer a member of Defence". Labor ran the campaign anyway.

He served 13 years in the ADF in the Parachute Infantry and Commandos, with deployments to Papua New Guinea, Malaysia and Timor-Leste, and he holds the Medal of the Order of Australia for humanitarian work. That record fits the envoy job he was handed. Labor's answer, now that he's charged, is that he keeps it.

Jacinta Price wants Luke Gosling stood aside and Anthony Albanese won't do it

Liberal frontbencher and NT senator Jacinta Price has called on the Prime Minister to stand Gosling aside from his envoy duties while the case runs. "That a federal MP has been arrested and taken into custody over such a serious allegation is a deeply concerning development," Price said in a statement, pointing to the gravity of an alleged assault on the King's representative in the Territory.

"Given the seriousness of the allegations, the Prime Minister should stand Mr Gosling aside from his special envoy responsibilities while the matter is investigated," she said. "No one is above the law, and everyone is entitled to due process."

Gosling was held at the Palmerston police station and left shortly before midday, saying nothing on his way out. "The Northern Territory Police have released a statement on this matter," he said in an earlier statement. "I am co-operating fully with their inquiries."

What happens next for Luke Gosling, the seat of Solomon and the special envoy role

Gosling is on bail and due back in the Darwin Local Court on 30 September for a preliminary examination. Anyone found guilty of assaulting the Administrator while he's discharging his official functions faces up to 14 years in prison under section 190 of the NT Criminal Code. No court has found anything against Gosling.

The Australian has also raised section 44 of the Constitution, which disqualifies a sitting member who is convicted and under sentence, or subject to be sentenced, for an offence punishable by a year or more in prison. There's a catch in it that nobody has resolved. Section 44 covers an offence punishable "under the law of the Commonwealth or of a State", and the Northern Territory is a territory, not a state. Whether a Territory conviction could ever cost a member the seat of Solomon has never been settled, and it sits a long way from where this matter is today.

Northern Territory Police have made their decision. Labor has made its own. Gosling keeps the seat and the envoy job while the case runs, and only one of those two decisions had to wait for a court.

He is still Labor's member for Solomon and still the Special Envoy for Defence, Veterans' Affairs and Northern Australia.

More to come.