By Michael Newhouse
THE family of Walter Foletti, the jailed drug dealer and former family friend of Labor MP Telmo Languiller, has defended the besieged Mr Languiller, saying what he did for the family was perfectly reasonable, and that they remain thankful for his support to this day.
Mr Languiller last week refused to stand down from Parliament or from his position as parliamentary secretary to Premier Steve Bracks after news the Derrimut MP provided a character reference at a bail hearing six years ago for Walter Foletti, who was charged with trafficking cocaine and speed in 2001.
Mr Foletti later pleaded guilty and was sentenced to five-and-a-half years’ jail, with a non-parole period of four years, after having received the drugs from underworld killer Carl Williams.
But last week a Foletti family member, who did not want to be identified in print, said Mr Languiller was a “very good person”, who had known the family for more than three decades since the two families moved to Australia from Uruguay in the 1970s.
“All he went there to say (was) that he knew my brother, he knew my brother was a family man,” the family member said last week. “He played soccer, went to the South American Club, did the normal things, and that’s it, that’s all he went there to court to say.
“I don’t know why they’re trying to do this to him because he’s done nothing wrong,” the family said.
Mr Languiller has said that with the benefit of hindsight, he would not have given a character references for somebody on drugs charges, and that he will be more prudent in the future when providing personal references.
After coming to Australia in the ’70s, Mr Languiller and Foletti attended school together in Maribyrnong, and both families remained in touch until 2001.
Since then the families have drifted apart, with the Foletti family member saying the two groups rarely see each other any more, while Mr Languiller last week said he had cut all contact and ties to the Foletti family.
“I don’t see him, we don’t talk to him, we don’t see him, maybe only occasionally when something’s going on in the community,” the family member said, but added the Foletti family still owed the MP a debt of gratitude.
“I always thank him for doing that, because we thought maybe someone as respected as he is going in there (court) and saying that he knew him, that it was going to help him,” they said.
The family member said they were surprised at the publicity the story received over this past week, saying Mr Languiller shouldn’t have to resign either his position as parliamentary secretary or his seat in Parliament over the incident.
