Premier red-faced as husband busted drink-driving
Callum Godde |
A state premier’s husband has been stripped of his licence for drink driving and must have his car fitted with an alcohol interlock to get back behind the wheel.
Yorick Piper, the husband of Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan, blew .05 after being pulled over for a random breath test on Thursday morning while driving to the supermarket in Bendigo.
He was issued a $611 on-the-spot fine and disqualified from driving for three months.
Victoria Police confirmed the 56-year-old was intercepted as part of a statewide road policing operation over the Christmas and New Year period.
Mr Piper returned a positive preliminary test before the alleged evidentiary reading of 0.05 and left the site on foot.
Revealing the news, Ms Allan said she and her husband celebrated their son’s birthday the night before at a local pub, returning home about 8pm.
She said her husband has been taking medication for a health issue and shouldn’t have been driving after drinking alcohol.
“I was deeply shocked, disappointed and embarrassed,” she told reporters on Friday.
The couple has made a $1000 donation to the Amber Foundation, a not-for-profit organisation that provides road incident support and education for the safety of road users.
Mr Piper had earlier been involved in a “fender bender” when cars came to a stop at an intersection, with details exchanged before both drivers went on their way.
“It was a little bit further up the road towards Bendigo where Victoria Police had established a roadside breath testing operation where they were waving vehicles in three at a time,” Ms Allan said.
“He was waved in as part of that and, quite clearly, was quite willing to submit to a breath test.”
The couple will pay for the damage to the other vehicle.
The premier spent Thursday breaking the news to family but wanted to promote honesty and transparency by telling the public at the “first opportunity” on Friday.
Ms Allan, who appeared emotional, said drink-driving and road trauma were incredibly serious issues.
“We recognise that and I am truly sorry,” the Bendigo East MP said.
Opposition Leader Jess Wilson said drink-driving was completely unacceptable but would not sink the boot in on her political rival.
“It’s not who I am to comment on someone else’s family,” she said.
The Allan Labor government government introduced laws in 2017 to immediately cancel licences for first-time offenders caught with a blood alcohol reading between 0.05 and 0.069.
Busted drivers must complete a behaviour change program and have an approved alcohol interlock fitted to any vehicle they drive.
Victoria’s road toll was 282 as of midnight on Thursday, four higher than the same time in 2024.
Sixteen people have died on Victorian roads between December 15 and January 1, resulting in the state recording its most deaths in 15 years.
It’s not the first time a Victorian Labor leader has been embroiled in a spousal driving controversy.
In 2013, then-opposition leader Daniel Andrews’ wife Catherine was driving his taxpayer-funded car with their three children inside when it collided with 15-year-old Ryan Meuleman on the Mornington Peninsula.
The smash left the teen in Melbourne’s Royal Children’s Hospital, where he underwent surgery for his injuries.
Ms Andrews wasn’t breath-tested, with then police commissioner Graham Ashton later conceding officers had “mucked up”.
No charges were laid over the crash and IBAC cleared police of wrongdoing.
Mr Andrews told reporters in 2017 the young cyclist was moving at speed before being T-boned by the car.
Mr Meuleman, who has since become known as “Bike Boy”, filed a lawsuit in November against the couple in the Federal Court.
AAP
