Brittany Lauga: Inside Queensland MP’s night out that ended in devastating sexual assault and drug-spiking allegations – as ‘explicit’ video of the shocking incident is revealed
EXCLUSIVE
A female MP rocked by sexual assault and drug allegations had spent the evening socializing before she was allegedly filmed being sexually assaulted on the street outside a hotel.
Queensland state MP Brittany Lauga, 37, later revealed that hospital tests showed she had MDMA in her system, despite not knowingly taking the drug.
In a series of online posts following the incident, she said she had no idea who her abuser was, telling an acquaintance: “I was crazy.”
Daily Mail Australia has chosen not to publish the video of Ms Lauga being abused in full public view of nearby drinkers and fast food customers.
An acquaintance who alerted the MP to the existence of the video warned her: “(It) is not pleasant.”
A second video clip after the incident shows the MP in a flowing orange dress on the main street of Yeppoon, Central Queensland.
The videos were filmed outside The Strand Hotel, between the town’s promenade and the beach, sometime after midnight in the early hours of Sunday morning, April 28.
Brittany Lauga is the local MP for Keppel and Assistant Minister in the Queensland Government
The State Member for Keppel is seen with a man on Yeppoon’s Anzac Parade following an earlier incident which was also filmed with a woman who was with her to warn Brittany about the ‘unpleasant’ footage
Police are investigating the alleged attack which was filmed early April 28 in the main street of Yeppoon, opposite the town’s main hotel, The Strand.
Ms Lauga, the Yeppoon-based member for the Queensland state seat of Keppel and assistant minister, can be seen standing with an unidentified man.
The MP revealed details of the night in a series of messages obtained exclusively by Daily Mail Australia, which she exchanged with a woman she met earlier that evening.
‘Hello Brittany, you may not remember who I am, but on Saturday evening I was sitting in the front row [Yeppoon Mexican restaurant] Zambrero was with my best friend when the man you were sitting with got into an argument,” the woman wrote.
“You, me and my best friend walked away from the situation and after everything happened we ended up seeing each other again.
“We asked if he was your boyfriend, and you explained that he wasn’t and that you would just walk home.”
The woman then warns Lauga that “there is a video of you going around,” although she has no idea who took it, she said.
“When I saw the video I recognized what you were wearing and what the man was wearing, so I knew straight away it was you,” she told the MP.
‘The video is quite explicit. If you can remember what you were doing, yes, it was recorded by someone somehow… and it seems to be spreading.”
After thanking her, Lauga replied, “Yes, I remember you asking me that. I don’t know the man.
‘I went to the hospital afterwards. And tested positive for MDMA, but did not use drugs. I had gone crazy.’
The woman replies, “Okay, don’t worry, I just thought I’d let you know because I’d like to know too.
“I felt bad because my buddy and I even said that you didn’t seem to be there at all that night. Are you sure he didn’t drug you?’
The videos were filmed outside The Strand Hotel in Yeppoon (pictured)
MP Brittany Lauga made a statement saying she was ‘drugged and sexually assaulted’ after a video of her on the main street of Yeppoon, Central Queensland circulated online
MP Brittany Lauga is said to have attended Yeppoon’s ‘Swans Football Ladies Day’ on the afternoon before the evening she was filmed after being ‘drugged and then sexually assaulted’.
During the exchange, the female acquaintance who met Brittany near The Strand Hotel said she was shown the video allegedly featuring the MP and reminded her and the man of the clothes she had previously seen them in.
Lauga was said to have attended the Yeppoon Swans Football Ladies Day earlier on Saturday at the city’s Swan Park, a three-minute drive from The Strand hotel.
Following Daily Mail Australia’s exclusive story last week revealing the allegations without naming Brittany Lauga, the MP released a statement this weekend.
Lauga said in the statement that I went to Yeppoon Police Station and Yeppoon Hospital early last Sunday after being drugged and sexually assaulted.
‘Tests at the hospital confirmed the presence of drugs in my body that I had not taken. This substance has had a big impact on me.
‘A police investigation is underway. I have been contacted by other women who may have also been drugged in Yeppoon on Saturday evening.”
Queensland Premier Steven Miles subsequently issued his own statement, saying: “No one should have to go through what Brittany is going through.
“My sole focus is on Brittany and her well-being. I told Brittany that we are here to support her, whatever she needs.
Brittany Lauga is the Yeppoon-based Member of Parliament for Keppel in Central Queensland and it was in her home town that an unknown person filmed her on the street in the early hours of last Sunday week
A man believed to be Brittany Lauga’s current partner has taken to Facebook asking people to respect the MP’s privacy and to report and delete the video if they receive it
‘Out of respect for her privacy and in the interests of allowing police to complete their investigation, it is not appropriate for me to comment further.’
Lauga said she later broke down in front of her brother after telling him she thought she had been raped.
She added that a doctor told her that women in Yeppoon were being drugged on a weekly basis.
A man believed to be Lauga’s current partner, Brent Wood, who reposted the MP’s statement on his Facebook page, posted a message asking people to remove the video.
“Please respect Brittany’s privacy during this difficult time,” he wrote. “No one should take advantage of someone else who is drugged.
‘Anyone who receives a video must report it and remove it.’