NSW MP exchanged lewd text messages during Question Time, invited sex worker to Parliament

A NSW MP accused of raping a sex worker in the Blue Mountains exchanged lewd text messages with the woman during Question Time and invited her to Parliament House for sex in his office, according to a new report.

The ABC has obtained a string of text messages between Upper Hunter Nationals MP Michael Johnsen and the unnamed sex worker, which show he offered to pay her $1000 to come to parliament and sent her a video of himself performing a lewd act.

The broadcaster has matched time-stamps of the messages in 2019 with parliamentary footage, in which Mr Johnsen can be seen sitting in the Lower House chamber texting on his mobile phone.

“I’m in QT and f*** I’m horny and want you so bad — need you,” he wrote in a September 26, 2019 message as he was in parliament for the passing of the NSW Reproductive Health Bill.

“I want you and can’t wait to f*** you over and over again.”

The pair exchanged a number of explicit texts and images.

At 3.53pm he sent her a video, apparently of himself masturbating in a toilet while holding a tablet displaying an image of the woman in his hand.

NSW Deputy Premier and Nationals leader John Barilaro has called on Mr Johnsen to resign immediately.

“There is currently a police investigation underway which we must let proceed without prejudice,” Mr Barilaro said in a statement.

“In light of this investigation, last week Michael Johnsen was removed from the Nationals and Coalition Party Rooms and suspended from the National Party. Following reports this morning I contacted Mr Johnsen to express the view that his position as a Member of Parliament is untenable.”

He continued, “This is disgusting behaviour and will never be acceptable, nor should it be, and I’m calling for Mr Johnsen to resign from Parliament immediately. It is now up to Mr Johnsen to reconsider his position as an independent Member of Parliament.”

Premier Gladys Berejiklian also said she is “absolutely disgusted” by the reports.

Earlier this month, Mr Johnsen outed himself as the man accused of raping a sex worker, hours after Labor MP Trish Doyle used parliamentary privilege to make the allegation against an unnamed MP.

He has not been charged by police.

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Mr Johnsen said he was “devastated” by the allegations and 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 co-operate with their inquiries,” he said in a statement, announcing “without admission” that he was stepping aside from his Parliamentary Secretary role and taking leave “effective immediately for a short duration”.

In her remarks on the floor of Parliament, the Blue Mountains MP said she had been contacted by the woman 18 months ago reporting she had been raped after responding to an ad on a classifieds site.

The alleged rape occurred at a remote lookout in the Blue Mountains on September 15, 2019.

Ms Doyle said the woman had “been clear with her client from the outset about what she was willing to do with him, and what she was unwilling to do”, and that “she tells me that she made herself clear that she was not willing to have penetrative sex with him”.

“However, towards the end, the man moved around behind her and assaulted her in a way she had not consented to,” she said.

Mr Johnsen vehemently denies the allegation.

The woman was at first reluctant to report the matter to police but did so in September last year.

Shortly after Mr Johnsen outed himself, NSW Police confirmed an investigation was underway into “allegations of sexual violence against a woman in the Blue Mountains in September 2019”.

The matter was reported to the Child Abuse and Sex Crimes Squad in September 2020 “and has been under investigation since”.

“As the inquiries are ongoing, we are not in a position to provide any further details,” police said.

‘I’m in politics. I’m an MP’

The woman told the ABC she first contacted Mr Johnsen in August 2019 after he placed an ad on a classifieds site offering “cash for bbbj”, an acronym for “bare-back b*****b”, or fellatio without a condom.

Mr Johnsen sent the woman a photo of himself and wrote, “I’m in politics. I’m an MP … I’m also divorced and unattached so don’t have to worry about doing the wrong thing. I still try to keep it all on the lowdown though X.”

The woman said at first she thought “it was somebody trying to set him up” because she hadn’t asked for photos and “didn’t really care for his personal information”.

On September 9, 2019, Mr Johnsen invited her to attend NSW Parliament the next day, and sent her a link to a budget estimates session.

“I have budget estimates scheduled between 9.30-12.30 tomorrow,” he wrote.

“My PH office could be fun … come to the Jubilee Room and wait for me there. If you wanted to, I’d be happy to shout you lunch here at PH when I’m done and dessert, well we know how that could be (wink emoji).”

She replied, “Haha, that could be fun!”

The woman cancelled the meeting because she had injured herself.

After their September 15 meeting at the Yellow Rock lookout, Mr Johnsen invited the woman to his Potts Point apartment.

She declined but agreed to meet him for paid, consensual oral sex in the Blue Mountains on September 23.

The next day, she texted him a topless photo of herself. He replied, “Hmmm … not fair. I’m sitting in the chamber with a hard on now! Xxx”

The pair met for the last time on September 26, 2019 at the heritage-listed Lennox Bridge in Glenbrook, where they had paid, consensual sexual intercourse, the woman told the ABC.

She claims he only made partial payment for their third meeting and stopped responding to her text messages.

She complained about his conduct to her local MP, Trish Doyle, on October 24, 2019.

She told the ABC she didn’t report the Yellow Rock incident to police because she did not think they would take her seriously.

“I don’t trust the police,” she said.

“What’s the point when I was answering an ad from (the classifieds) – a prostitute complaining about having sex? I don’t think it’s going to be very high on their agenda.”