James Ashby has agreed to be interviewed about his alleged illegal copying of Peter Slipper’s diary. Picture: Cameron Richardson

Peter Slipper’s staffer James Ashby says he contacted police yesterday to formally agree to be interviewed about alleged illegal copying of his former boss’s ­diaries in a bid to clear MP Mal Brough.

Two weeks after Australian Federal Police officers raided the homes or offices of Mr Ashby, Mr Brough and another former staffer, Karen Doane, the former political adviser said he had proof the newly elevated Minister of State was “an innocent’’ in the scandal.

Instead, Mr Ashby said he had a document that would show it was Queensland Liberal MP and frontbencher Wyatt Roy who had told him he should copy the diary of Mr Slipper, the then Speaker of the House of Representatives.

Mr Ashby said he first spoke to Mr Roy in 2012 about his alleged sexual harassment by Mr Slipper and that the then first-term MP had later sought advice from Innovation Minister Christopher Pyne.

“Wyatt said he didn’t really know how to advise me and said he wanted to speak with Christopher Pyne,’’ he said. “He then called me back and I went and saw him in his office and he presented me a sheet of paper with instructions of what I should do, and one of the first steps was to get a copy of the office diary.

“That is how I came to be printing off a copy of the digital diary — it was evidence in my case.’’

Mr Ashby said his lawyers had the sheet of paper and it “would undoubtedly have Wyatt’s fingerprints on it’’.

A spokesman for Mr Roy ­declined to comment, but it is understood he claims only to have told Mr Ashby to “diarise events” if he intended to file any action.

Mr Ashby said Mr Roy had said he did not want any further involvement, and it was then that he approached Mr Brough for help.

“I met with Mal and he said at one stage that he was interested in Slipper’s use of taxpayer entitlements and about a few trips he had taken to New Zealand and I said I had a copy of his diary and would check it out,’’ he said.

“So I went home and pulled the copy of the diary out of my cupboard, took some pictures of the relevant dates and sent them to Mal. He couldn’t read them and texted me and asked if I could send them again — that’s hardly procuring me.’’

Last year Mr Brough told the Nine Network that he had asked Mr Ashby for copies of the MP’s diary in 2012 for his use.

According to the search warrant, Mr Ashby is alleged to have “accessed restricted data’’ without authorisation and communicated the material to a third party between March 23 and April 12, 2012.

Mr Brough is alleged to have “counselled and procured’’ Mr Ashby to access restricted data — contrary to Section 478.1 of the Criminal Code — and to disclose extracts from Mr Slipper’s “official diary’’ without authority — contrary to Section 70 (1) of the Criminal Code — on the same dates. Both offences carry a maximum sentence of two years’ jail.

Mr Ashby last year alleged Mr Pyne and Mr Roy had offered him a lawyer and job security but withdrew the offer before he sued the former Speaker for sexual harassment in April 2012.

...

Let us hope Malcontent is going to dig his heels in and make this a long drawn out, vote losing, epic.