Former Labor Party branch president is charged with producing child pornography after returning to Australia from Vietnam
- A former ALP branch president has been arrested on child exploitation charges
- Peter Andrew Hansen, 61, was arrested at Sydney International Airport in 2018
- He has spent five months in jail and is making a court bid for release on Thursday
A Labor Party branch president has been charged with producing child pornography outside of Australia and importing the material into the country.
Peter Andrew Hansen, 61, was arrested at Sydney International Airport when he arrived from Vietnam on October 6 last year, according to The Daily Telegraph.
Hansen, who speaks fluent Vietnamese and once ran for local election in Cabramatta in Sydney's west, had spent the previous four months teaching English at a Vietnamese school.
A Labor Party branch president has been charged with producing child pornography outside of Australia and importing the material into the country
Peter Andrew Hansen (right), 61, was arrested at Sydney International Airport when he arrived from Vietnam on October 6 last year
He has been charged with three offences - producing child pornography outside Australia, possession of child abuse material, and intentionally import prohibited tier-2 goods without approval.
He has been held in jail since his arrest and is due to make a bid for release to the New South Wales Supreme Court on Thursday.
The ALP revoked his membership on Monday after the media informed a party official of the situation.
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'NSW Labor this afternoon became aware that Peter Hansen will appear before the Supreme Court on Thursday. As such his membership has been suspended,' a spokesman told The Daily Telegraph, adding his presidency had lapsed.
A magistrate had granted Hansen bail a day after his initial arrest, saying he had no criminal history.
'He comes before the court as a lawyer, he would know more than most people that this type of behaviour was serious,' the magistrate said in Parramatta Bail Court.
He was taken back into custody the following day, however, after Australian Federal Police raided his residence and added an additional two charges.
The ALP revoked his membership on Monday after the media informed a party official of the situation
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