Federal Labor MP Luke Gosling has declared he will contest charges he assaulted the Northern Territory Administrator, with the Prime Minister standing by his Defence Envoy as he begins legal proceedings which could drag on for 18 months.

The Member for Solomon has been banned from coming within 50 metres of the Northern Territory’s Government House after facing court over the incident earlier this month.

“(I) really welcome the decision of the judge to allow me to get out and to do my job that I was elected to do to represent the people of Darwin and Palmerston,” the Labor MP told reporters outside court.

“I have spoken with the Prime Minister and just been clear that I’m going to contest these allegations and that I will continue to serve,” the former soldier added.

“I can understand why people are, you know, asking a lot of questions about how this is rolled out and how it’s been handled, but this issue is before the court, so I won’t be commenting.”

Mr Gosling’s appearance before Darwin Local Court came a day after NT Police charged him with two counts of assaulting NT Administrator David Connolly at the Thailand Grand Festival in Darwin on July 18.

In varying the federal MP’s bail conditions, Judge Stephen Geary also ordered Mr Gosling to give Mr Connolly’s office 48 hours’ notice before attending any event where the pair would be present.

During Friday’s hearing, Judge Stephen Geary noted the two charges against Mr Gosling’s related to two separate incidents which occurred 30 minutes apart and ordered that the pair remain at least 15 metres apart if they attend future events together.

An earlier court day scheduled for next week has been aside and the matter will now return on September 30 for a preliminary examination, with the judge warning the legal process could run for as long as 18 months.

Hours before Mr Gosling faced court, acting prime minister Richard Marles praised his “very effective” Labor colleague and dodged questions over whether Mr Gosling should be stood aside from his duties while the case is underway.

“Luke Gosling has obviously denied these allegations, there is a presumption of innocence in this country and from there this is now a matter that is going to play out before the courts,” Mr Marles told News24.

“Luke is a very effective representative of the people of Darwin, as the member for Solomon he’s done a great job, as our special envoy for defence, we just need to let this process play out and obviously we can’t comment on it because it is before the courts.”

Mr Marles also confirmed he had spoken to Mr Gosling on Thursday night, and that the Member for Solomon was keen to keep representing his constituents which has represented since being elected a decade ago.

During a visit to Western Australia, Opposition Leader Angus Taylor took aim at the Prime Minister for refusing to stand down his special envoy for Defence & Veterans Affairs following the police charges.

“This is a test of leadership for him (Anthony Albanese), and when it really matters, whether it’s on the economy, whether it’s on protecting our way of life, when it really counts, the prime minister is nowhere to be seen,” Mr Taylor told reporters.

“This is a very serious . . . situation, and arrest charges (are) being laid against the most senior official in the Northern Territory. The prime minister needs to step up.”

A spokesperson from the Prime Minister’s Office on Thursday said the government would not be providing any further comment while an investigation is underway into the incident.

According to the NT Criminal Code, anyone found guilty of an assault on the NT administrator while “he is engaged in the discharge of his official functions” can face a maximum penalty of 14 years’ imprisonment.

Under section 44 of Australia’s Constitution, a federal MP may be disqualified if convicted and under sentence, or subject to be sentenced, for an offence punishable by at least one year’s imprisonment.

Last year Mr Gosling retained his Darwin-based seat of Solomon by just over 1500 votes following a more than 7 per cent swing to Country Liberal Party candidate Lisa Bayliss.