NSW deputy premier John Barilaro says MP Michael Johnsen must resign after reports alleging sexting
Michael Johnsen #MichaelJohnsen
The New South Wales deputy premier, John Barilaro, has called for Upper Hunter MP Michael Johnsen to immediately resign from parliament following reports alleging he sought to arrange for a sex worker to visit him in the state’s Parliament House.
On Tuesday the ABC reported allegations that Johnsen, a Nationals MP, had offered to pay a sex worker $1,000 to attend NSW parliament for sex, as well as alleging that a string of lewd text messages and an obscene video were sent from his mobile phone while parliament was sitting.
A week ago Johnsen stepped aside from his position as a parliamentary secretary and moved to the crossbench after it was revealed he was the subject of a six-month police investigation into a rape allegation made by the same woman. He released a statement saying he was “devastated” by the allegations, and that he was “confident any investigation will conclude that I am an innocent party”.
Related: Gladys Berejiklian ‘shocked’ by rape allegations against NSW MP
Responding to the reports, Barilaro, the leader of the NSW Nationals, said that he had exchanged messages with Johnsen on Tuesday morning and told the MP to “do the right thing” and resign from parliament.
“I made it clear to Mr Johnsen that, outside the allegations, in relation to the conduct of an MP that this behaviour was not acceptable,” he told Sky News.
“The text messages are there for everybody to read. It’s a standard that is not acceptable and on that alone he should be considering his position in the parliament.”
The ABC reported allegations that in hundreds of messages sent from Johnsen’s phone between August and September 2019, the MP had sent the woman “sext” messages as well as videos and images while parliament was sitting. On one occasion, it is alleged that a message was sent in which he offered to pay her $1,000 to attend NSW parliament for sex.
If Johnsen were to resign from parliament it would effectively push the Berejiklian government into minority, pending the outcome of a byelection, but Barilaro said he could “live with that on my conscience”.
“So be it,” he said.
“We’re no different to the federal government, [we] hang on to parliament with a very minor majority and this would take that way [but] that is irrelevant because it’s the right course of action.
“We were elected to lead and to uphold a standard [and] if it means we lose the seat of Upper Hunter – and to the citizens of Upper Hunter I apologise for what has occurred – I’d rather stand here doing the right thing than worrying about a majority in government [or] worrying about a particular seat. We’ll have to fight that out.”
But Barilaro stopped short of saying that the government would force a motion to eject Johnsen from the parliament, saying he would “allow him to make that decision”.
“We’re five or six weeks way from resuming parliament [and] I’m going to give Michael the opportunity to do the right thing,” he said.
“When we get back to parliament, we’ll deal with it if it needs to be dealt with.”
The deputy premier also indicated that some of the allegations in the ABC’s report may have already been known within the Nationals, saying Johnsen had “indicated in the past” that “questions” about his behaviour “weren’t real”.
“I’m making no judgment in relation to the allegations [of sexual assault] as there is an investigation there,” he said.
“But what we saw this morning is beyond that. That is that he was inviting an individual to the parliament, texting during question time, sharing images or videos … in my mind these are questions that he has indicated in the past that weren’t real or that they weren’t actual facts and therefore in my mind he now has questions to answer.
“In my mind [it is] not conduct we expect from a member of parliament … it would certainly not pass the pub test.”
The premier, Gladys Berejiklian, said on Tuesday the reported allegations were “beyond disgusting”.
“If that’s correct I’m absolutely disgusted,” she told Sydney radio station 2GB. “For many women in public life, we know challenges that exist, but when colleagues and former colleagues do that type of thing it’s beyond disgusting. I want people, not just in politics but in all spheres of life, to be respectful of women and treat them equally.”
Johnsen stood aside from his position as a parliamentary secretary and moved to the crossbench after the Labor MP Trish Doyle used parliamentary privilege to recount a claim that an unnamed member had allegedly sexually assaulted a sex worker.
He released a statement saying he was “devastated” by the allegations, and that he was “confident any investigation will conclude that I am an innocent party”.
“I have voluntarily spoken with NSW police and I have and will continue to fully cooperate with their inquiries,” he said at the time.
“I am confident any investigation will conclude that I am an innocent party.”
At the time Johnsen said that “as the matter is with the NSW police I will make no further public comment”.
The Guardian has contacted him for this story.