Tasmanian Liberal candidate accused by second woman of fake identity

A second woman has accused Tasmanian Liberal Adam Brooks of pretending he was an engineer named Terry during a months-long relationship.

The woman — who lives in Melbourne but has asked not to be identified — met Mr Brooks on dating app Bumble in December 2019.

They spoke mostly via messages and phone calls because of coronavirus restrictions. She believed he lived in Brisbane, looking after his sick father, but grew up and studied at a university in Melbourne.

In reality, the north-west businessman is a former Tasmanian mining minister who told the parliament in his inaugural speech that “I did not go to university”.

He pitched himself on Bumble as someone who was “fit, adventurous, love travel”.

“I’m really uncomfortable online, haven’t been on a date and have been shocked by even some of the things sent to me,” he said in one message to the woman seen by the ABC.

“Seriously there are some weirdos out there.”

Brooks looks likely to be returned to parliament 

On Friday, the ABC reported that a Sydney woman had dated Mr Brooks for eight months, also believing he was an engineer named Terry.

Mr Brooks has denied the allegations.

He was backed by the Tasmanian Liberal Party after the revelations and went on to receive more than 6,000 first preference votes in the state election.

Mr Brooks appears likely to return to the state’s parliament.

The Melbourne woman said there were times before they met in person that she worried he was not who he said he was, including when his location on Bumble did not match where he said he was — but he told her his daughter’s friend sometimes used his account.

They had also had a video call, which helped ease her fears.

They met in person in December last year.

“People said get some identification to see who he is and he showed me a Queensland drivers’ licence,” the woman said.

“[It was] a temporary one so it didn’t have a photograph, then he showed me a business card.”

The woman said parts of his story did not add up, so she checked a register of structural engineers and could not find a Terry Richard Brooks.

She eventually searched online for his daughters’ names and found a 2014 article celebrating his re-election to Tasmania’s parliament.

The pair broke contact in January this year.

“It made me feel sick,” she said.

“Somebody like that should not be allowed to represent people.”

Mr Brooks has denied the allegations.

The photograph of a drivers’ licence Mr Brooks sent to his Sydney girlfriend to “prove” his identity is subject to an investigation from Victoria’s Transport Department.

Brooks denies allegations in newspaper interview

Mr Brooks has not responded to repeated request for comment from the ABC but gave an exclusive interview to The Advocate newspaper on Monday denying the allegations.

He told the publication he “didn’t remember” taking a photo with the Sydney woman, and claimed it was an attempt to interfere with his political campaign.

“There may be some out there that believe everything they see on the internet, but my position is very clear,” Mr Brooks said.

“For me now, I’m focused on what the people of Braddon have said.”

The woman from Melbourne said she was speaking out in support of the woman from Sydney.

“You should never treat another human being like that,” she said.

“You can’t let someone go around treating women like shit and thinking that it’s OK. How dare he.”

Mr Brooks sat in Tasmania’s parliament from 2010 to 2019.

He resigned after an Integrity Commission investigation into the use of a business email address. He was cleared of having a material conflict of interest, but was found to have misled the former premier about the nature of involvement in his business.

Early in the state election campaign, Tasmania Police confirmed he would be summonsed to court on allegations he had incorrectly stored ammunition.

Mr Brooks has previously said he would “vigorously defend” the allegations in court, but told The Advocate newspaper that “I doubt I ever will be” actually summonsed.