James Ashby, left, has alleged Peter Slipper sexually harassed him. Picture: The Courier-Mail Source: The Courier-Mail 
Speaker Peter Slipper is facing allegations by adviser James Ashby. Picture: Kym Smith Source: The Daily Telegraph THE Federal Opposition wants Peter Slipper to step aside as Speaker of the House of Representatives while allegations of sexual harassment are before the court.
Federal Speaker Peter Slipper has been accused of making sexual advances toward a young male adviser.
Mr Slipper has denied claims published in The Daily Telegraph, that he sexually harassed a male staffer and misused Cabcharges.The claims against Mr Slipper, made in court documents obtained by the newspaper, allege he recruited 33-year-old James Ashby for the sole purpose of pursuing a sexual relationship with him.
The application filed to the Federal Court says Mr Slipper allegedly made unwelcome advances toward Mr Ashby and sent him explicit text messages making his sexual intentions clear.
Mr Slipper took to Twitter early this morning to deny the claims. He is overseas on a parliamentary delegation.
"The allegations in News Ltd papers are denied!" he tweeted, later adding they were "a surprise to me".
Opposition Leader Tony Abbott said the Speaker's role was to uphold the integrity of parliament and Mr Slipper should step aside while the allegations were heard in court.
"Yes, the Speaker is entitled to the presumption of innocence but he does have quite a lot of explaining to do," he said.
"These are matters that are now to be the subject of proceedings in court, so these are of a vastly more serious and substantial nature than anything that has been alleged against Mr Slipper in the past."
The Prime Minister Julia Gillard has yet to comment on the allegations, however, Government Leader of the House Anthony Albanese told reporteers this morning he had not known about the allegations before reading about them in the newspaper.
"It isn't appropriate to comment on the detail of legal proceedings of which, obviously, I would have no knowledge," he said.
"It's important that we recognise the separation between the judicial arm and the political arm of the state."
Mr Albanese said Mr Slipper had done a "very good job" as Speaker since taking the chair.
"That's been something that's been acknowledged across the spectrum including by his former coalition colleagues," he said.
He emphasised there were no allegations of the kind against any Labor government MPs.
He also said police should be able to determine without any political interference any action they might take over the allegations relating to travel claims.
AFP 'assesing' allegations of Cabcharge fraud
The Australian Federal Police said they are aware of the new allegations that Mr Slipper misused taxpayer-funded Cabcharges.
A spokeswoman told AAP police were assessing the information they had about the allegations but it would not be appropriate to comment further at this stage.
Mr Ashby is being represented by Harmers Workplace Lawyers, the same firm which represented Kristy Anne Fraser-Kirk in her successful suit against David Jones chief executive Mark McInnes - who resigned over the harassment claims.
Mr Ashby is seeking a court order that Mr Slipper undergo counselling and training in anti-discrimination, as well as compensation from the federal government and the Speaker.
Mr Slipper, who was last night flying back from overseas, is accused of making "unwelcome suggestions of a sexual nature" through mobile phone text messages and in private conversations.
Allegations of 'bizarre' text messages, sexual suggestions
The court documents also revealed Mr Slipper would regularly send "bizarre" kisses to him by ending text messages with an "X". One text from Mr Slipper to Mr Ashby merely read "xxx".
According to an application filed in the Federal Court yesterday, Mr Slipper asked Mr Ashby to shower with the bathroom door open at his Canberra home.
And after complaining of having a sore neck, Mr Slipper arranged for a massage, during which he made moaning noises indicating "intense sexual pleasure".
Just a month after starting work with the Speaker, Mr Ashby also claimed he was asked: "Have you ever c ... in a guy's a ... before?".
It is alleged that the question was repeated several weeks later, with Mr Slipper also asking whether the adviser preferred "twinks or bears" - homosexual slang.
In a series of text messages Mr Slipper sent Mr Ashby in February he told the staffer, "if you are interested we could be closer".
But his attempt to forge a closer relationship was rejected by the adviser, who joined the Speaker's office in December.
He also asked Mr Ashby: "You getting roks (sic) off. Pity," during an exchange of text messages sent on February 1 this year. A few minutes later Mr Slipper wrote via email: "U want something more? U brillianmt (sic) at massages."
'Rejected advances led to sudden deterioration at work'
However when Mr Ashby - who told Mr Slipper he was homosexual before commencing employment - said he only wanted a professional relationship, the Speaker's tone allegedly changed.
He told Mr Ashby he should "in future" arrange all communications through another staffer, Tim Knapp, as Mr Slipper said he "cannot guarantee availability".
He also allegedly threatened to stop Mr Ashby accompanying him to Sydney for two harbour cruises with delegations from Samoa and Cyprus.
According to the court documents, the Howard government was aware of Mr Slipper's sexual relationship with another young male adviser - and other allegations of sexual harassment - as early as 2003.
Mr Ashby's legal team claim the adviser had suffered "considerable stress, humiliation and illness and was seeking medical assistance".
Mr Slipper became Speaker on the last day of parliament in 2011 after the Labor speaker, Harry Jenkins, resigned.
The Sunshine Coast MP resigned from the Liberal National Party to take the job.
His defection effectively gave the minority Labor government two extra votes, a wider buffer than previously.
