An Australian politician has admitted sending a text message that read “fuck, my job is boring” during a parliamentary hearing , but denied an allegation that he sent it to a sex worker.
Mark Parton, the leader of the opposition in the Australian Capital Territory, made the admission after an anonymous complaint referred to the Legislative Assembly’s commissioner for standards alleged that last week’s text was sent to a sex worker.
The Canberra Times first reported the text exchange between Parton and an unidentified person, with an image published on Wednesday showing Parton sending a photo taken from his seat at the committee table, followed by the messages: “fuck, my job is boring. Wanna swap.”
At a press conference on Thursday morning, the Liberal leader said the standards commissioner had told him the allegations had been dismissed and no investigation would be launched.
“The three reasons that [the standards commissioner] can choose to not investigate a complaint are A: that there is insufficient evidence, B: that it is a frivolous or vexatious complaint, or C: that it’s politically motivated,” Parton said.
“The commissioner didn’t give me advice as to which one of those three, but I think you can decide which one or all of the above.”
The standards commissioner was contacted for comment.
Asked three times by a reporter whether the allegations were true, Parton initially referred to the complaint’s dismissal and said he did not regard the matter as being in the public interest before conceding he sent the text.
“Did you send a text message that said, ‘fuck, my job is boring’?” a reporter asked.
“Yes, I did,” Parton said.
Parton continued to deny the text was sent to a sex worker. Asked whether he had ever engaged with sex workers, he declined to answer, saying he did not believe “the question was in the public interest”.
“I’m not going to entertain questions that are completely removed from that … I’m just not going there,” Parton said.
The text was sent during a budget estimates hearing on Friday about plans to redevelop Telstra Tower in consultation with the local Ngunnawal Indigenous community. Asked whether it was appropriate to send personal texts during the hearing, Parton described himself as “a multi-tasker from hell”.
“I think those of you who’ve known me for long enough would know that I’ve got an off-the-cuff larrikin communication style. I understand that most people’s perception of budget estimates hearings is that they’re pretty boring,” he said.
“We’re also humans … people have the ability to send messages to people on their private devices that have got nothing to do with the public wealth.”
Parton ruled out resigning over the saga, saying he still believed he had “the full backing” of his party room, despite describing members as “dismayed” and “a little disappointed”.
“We’ve had a series of conversations overnight. My understanding is that that’s still the case … If indeed there’s a critical mass that wants to go another way, so be it. But I don’t believe that’s what’s going to occur here,” he said.
In a statement on Wednesday night, a spokesperson for Parton said the matter had been referred to police. Parton said on Thursday that the matter was under investigation as a harassment complaint.
The AFP was contacted for comment.
The ACT chief minister, Andrew Barr, said he was “not seeking to score political points” over the situation and that estimates hearings were an “important part of parliamentary accountability”.
“The hearings run for approximately 75 hours over two weeks, and hundreds of officials attend to assist the Assembly in its scrutiny of government administration and expenditure,” he said.
“If the Leader of the Opposition considers the process boring, perhaps that is an argument for examining the format in the future, rather than a reflection of the importance of the work being undertaken.”
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