West Australian Premier Roger Cook has leapt to the defence of a veteran Perth TV reporter involved in a tussle with the head of beleaguered Perth building company Nicheliving in the line of duty over the weekend. On Saturday morning Geof Parry and a 7 News cameraman approached Nicheliving managing director Ronnie Michel-Elhaj outside his wife Natalie’s under-construction luxury Applecross property after spotting him speaking to tradesmen on the balcony. 7News Perth reporter Geof Parry and Nicheliving managing director Ronnie Michel-Elhaj.
Credit: 7News Perth Parry attempted to ask Michel-Elhaj questions about why construction continued on his wife’s property while more than 200 Nicheliving customers were still waiting for their properties to be completed up to four years after signing contracts. The footage shows Michel-Elhaj swiping the microphone from Parry’s hand and telling the cameraman to stop filming him as Parry tries to shield the camera from him. The pair then fall through a fence and to the ground and Michel-Elhaj accuses Parry of trespassing.
“I’m not trespassing, come on mate ...
I just wanted to ask you a few questions. This is ridiculous,” Parry responds. Mihel-Elhaj then tries to grab the camera twice more.
Speaking at the launch of a new domestic violence awareness campaign, Cook said the behaviour was completely unacceptable. “Violence is never OK, but we particularly deplore the fact that [this is] someone going about their work; in this case.