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June 22nd, 2012 
FAKE NEWS for the Zionist agenda
Updated
Video: Another shoplifting report leads Senator to quit
(Lateline)
Opposition Leader Tony Abbott says Mary Jo Fisher has done a “gutsy thing” by resigning as a senator, following new shoplifting allegations she blames on a “panic attack”.
South Australian police reported Senator Fisher for theft after an incident at an Adelaide supermarket on Saturday afternoon.
In a statement released last night, Senator Fisher said she planned to step down on August 10.
“I do so on medical advice and after experiencing a further panic attack, similar but less severe than the one which caused such grief 18 months ago,” she said.
In 2010, Senator Fisher was accused of stealing $92 worth of groceries from a Foodland store and pushing a security officer who approached her in the car park.
Audio:
Mary Jo Fisher quits politics
(AM)
Late last year she was acquitted of the resulting shoplifting charge but found guilty of assault and released without conviction.
Mr Abbott says he has known Senator Fisher for a very long time, and acknowledges she has been wrestling with some “personal issues”.
“This is a tragic personal situation – she’s done the gutsy thing in difficult circumstances,” Mr Abbott has told Channel Nine.
“She’s done the honourable and the courageous thing by herself, her family and the Parliament by resigning.
“I think the best thing we can do now is wish Mary Jo all the best as she puts her life back together again.”
Senator Fisher has described the past few years as a “persistently tough period”.
“It has become undeniable that for me [that] the road to full recovery from my depressive illness has been hampered by my trying to get better, at the same time as continuing to serve in public office,” she said in a statement.
And she has taken aim at the South Australian police prosecutors, accusing them of making “dogged, calculated and deliberate attempts” to exacerbate the pressures of her recent trial.
Senator Fisher says it undermined her “faltering recovery”.
‘Grave concerns’
South Australian Liberal MP Jamie Briggs says he hopes police make the “right decision” about whether to pursue the latest incident, and has publicly questioned their response to the 2010 case.
“I still hold grave concerns about the pursuit of what amounted to be less than $90 worth of groceries in the first instance given that the South Australian public reads nearly everyday about a different house being shot up by criminals,” Mr Briggs said.
He said he believed Senator Fisher had been contemplating her decision to quit politics before the weekend incident, as she considered how to deal with her mental illness.
Fellow Coalition Senator Barnaby Joyce says it is best for Senator Fisher to continue her recovery away from the pressures of politics.
“I think everybody can see that there is an issue there that is not something about a person being a thief, but possibly a person having some other problems that need to be addressed,” he told reporters in Canberra.
“And the best place to address them is outside this building.”
Senator Fisher has been a “colourful” addition to the Upper House, and gained national prominence after performing the “Time Warp” and the “Hokey Pokey” dance during a Senate debate.
Labor Senator Doug Cameron concedes he was “concerned” about her behaviour at times, but thought Senator Fisher was just a “bit of an extrovert”.
“I just wish her the best for the future and hope that this terrible mental illness that afflicts many people, that she can get proper treatment for it,” he said.
Topics:
government-and-politics,
federal-government,
federal-parliament,
liberals,
australia,
sa
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