Perin Davey says throat surgery left her with speech issues after slurred estimates appearance

Senator Davey admitted having two glasses of red wine at a function before returning to Senate estimates last week, during which she appeared to slur and stumble over her words, but she said she “didn’t think” she was drunk.

In the latest development, the NSW senator told a local Bathurst radio station on Tuesday she had undergone a medical procedure in 2019 while overseas, which made her more susceptible to slurring her words when she was tired, stressed or after a glass of wine.

“I had to have two lots of emergency surgery. I had full blown sepsis, and I was in the hospital for 11 days and kind of lost count of the amount of antibiotic transfusions I had,” she said.

“They asked me what my job was and I was in campaign mode at the time, I said I wanted to be a politician.

“They warned me that it will impact my speech. But I’ve been very conscious of it ever since and I’ve always thought I’ve managed it very well.”

She did not deny she had “a couple of drinks” before returning to the hearing, but said there was one part of the story that had left her “distraught”.

“To just have someone selectively clip the video to make it focus on words that I’m stumbling over and imply that I was incoherent through the whole thing, I’m just distraught about.

“I do gesticulate when I’m passionate about things, and my throat catches, and I stumble over words, and earlier in the morning I’m clearer than I am late at night.

“That’s got nothing to do with alcohol consumption. It’s got everything to do with being tired or being stressed or being nervous.

“I know that my job needs to be taken very seriously and I do take it very seriously, and that’s why I ask to be judged on the content of what I do and not on how I enunciate.”

Her admission came just one week after her Nationals colleague Barnaby Joyce was encouraged to take personal leave after he was captured intoxicated, on his back on a Canberra street during sitting week.

Mr Joyce said he was on medication that he shouldn’t have drunk on, and this week confirmed he had “given up drinking for Lent”.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has declined calls for random breath testing MPs and senators, but the recent incidents involving Mr Joyce and Senator Davey has put Parliament House’s alcohol culture back in the spotlight.