Palaszczuk’s partner Reza Adib charged with three counts of rape

Prominent surgeon Dr Reza Adib, the partner of former Queensland premier Annastacia Palaszczuk, has been charged with three counts of rape after a police raid on his Gold Coast apartment.

Officers declared a crime scene at the Burleigh Heads apartment on Thursday, and Adib turned himself in at the Southport police station on Friday afternoon.

Adib’s lawyer, Dan Rogers from Robertson O’Gorman Solicitors, said his client maintained his innocence.

“Dr Adib is shocked about the allegations made about him and is taking the matter very seriously,” Rogers said in a statement issued on Friday afternoon.

“Like all persons accused of a crime, he is presumed to be innocent and intends to vigorously defend the charges.

“Right now, Dr Adib is primarily concerned about the welfare of his family and his patients and he will do whatever it takes to ensure that they are looked after in the coming weeks.”

He has been charged with three counts of rape, one count of sexual assault and two counts of deprivation of liberty.

Police have alleged he sexually assaulted a woman, aged in her 30s, at his apartment on Goodwin Terrace in Burleigh Heads on March 30.

Adib left the Southport police station with his lawyer on Friday just after 2pm. He did not comment to the waiting press pack.

Palaszczuk, the former long-serving Labor premier of Queensland, is not involved in the ongoing investigation.

Detectives and specialist officers were seen entering the apartment on Thursday morning, thoroughly searching the property and later leaving with various items in bags.

“Police declared a crime scene at an address in Burleigh Heads [on Thursday], April 30, as part of an ongoing investigation,” the Queensland Police Service told this masthead in a statement.

Adib is a prominent surgeon, specialising in obesity procedures, who has been in a relationship with Palaszczuk since 2021.

The surgeon established his obesity clinic in Brisbane in 2004, and was nominated as the co-chairman of the Wesley Hospital’s Centre of Excellence in Bariatric Surgery in 2017.

But Uniting Care, which runs the Wesley Hospital, told this masthead Adib was not currently accredited to perform operations at the hospital.

At a public event at a Gold Coast library on Thursday night while promoting her autobiography, Palaszczuk was asked about the raid at the home.

“I’m not aware of any of that, so I can’t comment,” she said.

This masthead contacted his surgical clinic in Brisbane but was told no comment would be provided.

He is expected to appear in the Southport Magistrates Court on May 14.

If you or anyone you know needs support, you can contact the National Sexual Assault, Domestic and Family Violence Counselling Service on 1800RESPECT (1800 737 732).

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