On Wednesday, The Australian newspaper reported that Mr Kelly, from Wellington, had allegedly threatened to

use a taser against a representative of the Insurance Council of Australia during a conference.

“I wish I had a Taser here right now. I would Taser you,” The Australian quoted him as saying to the representative.

In Dubbo yesterday Mr Kelly chose to stay quiet on the issue when questioned by the Daily Liberal, simply saying “the story would be unfolded in State media eventually”.

Mr Kelly did say he remained confident about his future in the beleagured State Government.

The Premier, Nathan Rees, knew “exactly what happened”, he said, and when asked whether the allegations would be detrimental to his career, Mr Kelly replied: “No they won’t, not at all.”

Mr Kelly declined to reveal the sequence of events or explain the context in which the statement was used.

“I’ve already done that,” he said.

While Mr Kelly was reticent to discuss his Taser comment, he was more forthcoming on the use of devices by the NSW police force.

He said a new training program for the use of tasers had been developed.

“We’re going to train 1500 police officers across the State in the use of Tasers,” he said.

“They won’t be able to use a taser unless they have completed the training.”

Two Dubbo officers had already received the training, he said.

Mr Kelly said Tasers had only been drawn 68 times and actually implemented 16 times.

According to Mr Kelly, NSW Tasers also have a camera device which stores voice and video data for legal purposes.

“The big advantage is people often see them drawn and they back off,” he said.

“A lot of people know if they are drunk and mucking around that the police won’t shoot them, but they’re not so sure they won’t Taser them.”

emma.mastronardi@ruralpress.com