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INSIDE STORY: The MP, the "suspicious package" of Philip Shaw wine, and the Nat who felt "used"
November 29, 2023
By Peter Holmes
The “suspicious package” sent to the home of Calare MP Andrew Gee by a senior National Party member contained three empty bottles of Philip Shaw’s The Idiot Shiraz 2022, The Orange News Examiner can reveal.
We can also reveal that the woman who sent the empty bottles - key Central West Nationals party member Janelle Culverson - has been told by senior NSW Nationals to resign, but believes she has the support of local members.
Gee made an extraordinary speech in federal parliament on Tuesday (November 28, 2023) in which he said that last week he “received a package sent via Australia Post to my home”.
“The sender's address on the package appeared to be fictitious. My family and I, including my children, were very shocked and concerned that our home was being targeted," Gee said.
“In accordance with protocol, I notified the Australian Federal Police, and they in turn contacted Orange police, who swiftly investigated and found that the package had been sent using a fake name, address and signature and was paid for with cash.”
The ABC has reported that police chose to take no further action.
Gee, the federal MP who quit the National Party late in 2022, said the package contained empty wine bottles “bearing labels carrying an insulting message”.
The empty wine bottles were labelled with Philip Shaw’s The Idiot Shiraz 2022.
“The Idiot does not follow the rules of convention,” states the official blurb. “A fool to some, a genius to others. We embrace the unconventional and complex character of our shiraz.”
Culverson declined an interview for this story, however according to a source, Culverson was at a lunch recently at which the hosts served up four bottles of The Idiot Shiraz 2022.
At the end of the lunch she took three of the empty bottles, with the intention of sending them to Gee "as a joke", the source said.
Gee told parliament that CCTV from Australia Post “showed that the sender of the package was the chair of the Calare Federal Electorate Council of the New South Wales National Party, Janelle Culverson”.
“She is a former Cabonne shire councillor, and, aside from the remaining state MPs, she is the most senior National Party member in the region,” Gee said.
“This was no joke. I believe that the posting of the package, its contents and the steps taken by Ms Culverson to conceal her identity as the sender were designed to unsettle, create anxiety and fear amongst me and my family, and also intimidate and pressure me into not contesting the seat of Calare at the next election.
“This is nasty, vicious and spiteful politics. I believe that our communities would be horrified, like I am, that the National Party has sunk to this filthy new low.”
Culverson had assisted Gee on state and federal campaigns over several years. The source said she had helped organise fundraising events at Gee’s house and dedicated many hours to his election campaigns. They said Culverson was one of many Nationals who felt “betrayed and used” after Gee quit the party over its decision to rail against the Voice to Parliament.
“They felt like there’d been a death in the family,” they said.
Gee maintained that he took a stand as a matter of principle, irrespective of whether there would be a political price to pay.
Culverson - who was heavily involved in the local No campaign during the recent Voice referendum - said the matter was personal, not political, according to the source, which was illustrated by the fact the wine was sent to his home, not his office.
They said it was an expression of her frustration that Gee would not talk to Culverson about his decision to quit the Nationals.
“I have not spoken to Ms Culverson since January and do not regard her as a friend,” Gee said in his speech.
It is believed he attempted to make contact with Culverson on the day he resigned, but that she wasn't able to take the call.
The bitter fallout is a far cry from 2019, when Gee praised Culverson and six other Nationals in a speech to parliament, saying: “I’m very grateful for their hard work, their support and their wise counsel. I really appreciate it.”
Gee told the parliament yesterday that “the families and homes of MPs should never be the target of political attacks”.
There was no note or message accompanying the bottles. The source said Culverson did not think Gee would know who had sent the bottles. Culverson had described the sending of the package as “poor humour”, they said.
It is believed the NSW National Party chairman, Andrew Fraser, and the party’s state director Joe Lundy, contacted Culverson after Gee’s speech and told her to resign from the party.
However, the source said that Culverson believed she had the backing of local branch members, and was not of a mind to quit a party she had spent more than 40 years supporting.
Ultimately, if Culverson holds her ground, the matter may end up at the National Party’s Constitution and Ethics Committee, which has the power to rescind her membership.
The Nationals are seething over the fact Orange is represented at state and federal level by independents Phil Donato and Andrew Gee.
Federal Nationals leader David Littleproud has been spending considerable time in Orange and says he will continue to do so until the next federal election.
Gee has been contacted for comment.
More on Andrew Gee and the National Party here.
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