BREAKING NEWS: Sleazy MP RESIGNS after video emerged of him sexting from the floor of Parliament, texts showed him offering $1,000 for sex in his office and he denied raping a sex worker
A Nationals MP has resigned from Parliament after video emerged of him sexting from the floor of Parliament and messages showed he offered to pay $1,000 for sex in his office.
Michael Johnsen resigned as MP for NSW state seat of Upper Hunter on Wednesday after tawdry claims emerged about his sexting and amid a NSW Police investigation into claims he raped a sex worker.
Deputy Premier and state party leader John Barilaro had called for Johnsen’s resignation after the ABC published text messages between Johnsen and an unnamed sex worker on Tuesday.
In a statement on Wednesday afternoon, Mr Barilaro said Johnsen had fallen on his sword. ‘Today I welcome Mr Johnsen’s resignation from the NSW Parliament,’ Mr Barilaro said.
‘My message to the people of the Upper Hunter is I will always put integrity before politics, which is why I called for Mr Johnsen’s resignation.
‘I want to say to the communities of the Upper Hunter that I am sorry.’
The ABC reported that an unnamed sex worker had met Mr Johnsen in response to an adult services advertisement on a classifieds website.
The woman went to police last year, alleging that she had been raped by Mr Johnsen during a paid encounter in the Blue Mountains. Johnsen strongly denied the allegation, after Labor revealed the existence of an allegation against an unnamed MP last week.
Johnsen moved to the crossbench and was suspended from the Nationals pending an investigation.
But the scandal only worsened on Tuesday when the ABC published text messages between Johnsen and the sex worker.
On September 24, 2019, the woman reportedly texted him a topless photo while he was sitting in the Legislative Assembly.
Johnsen reportedly replied: ‘Hmmm … not fair. I’m sitting in the chamber with a h**d on now! Xxx’.’
Parliamentary video obtained by Daily Mail Australia shows Johnsen playing with phone on the front bench just three minutes after that text was allegedly received by the woman.
Two days later, on September 26, Johnsen reportedly texted her: ‘I’m in QT (Question Time) and f*** I’m horny and want you so bad – need you. I want you and can’t wait to f*** you over and over again.’
In a separate and earlier message, Mr Johnsen apparently suggested that the pair have sex in his parliamentary office, after he sat through a Budget estimates hearing.
‘My PH office could be fun … come to the Jubilee Room and wait for me there,’ he allegedly said.
It’s an office that he will no longer be able to call his own.
A bombshell ABC report has alleged that Nationals MP Michael Johnsen sent a series of lewd messages to a sex worker from the floor of New South Wales state parliament. He last week denied an allegation he sexually assaulted a sex worker in the Blue Mountains in September 2019
How parliamentary sex scandal came to light
Blue Mountains MP Ms Doyle last week rocked State Parliament by claiming an unnamed male government MP had allegedly raped a sex worker at a secluded bush lookout, after paying her $200 for oral sex.
Ms Doyle recalled how the woman had responded to an advertisement on the website Locanto seeking a specific sex service, and the couple met at Yellow Rock Lookout.
‘She 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,’ Ms Doyle said.
‘She tells me 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.
Trish Doyle (pictured in parliament last Wednesday afternoon) rocked NSW Parliament by claiming a male government MP allegedly raped a sex worker at a secluded bush lookout after paying her $200 for oral sex
‘In her emails to me she said that once the assault began she just wanted it to finish.
‘It was an assault, and it was against her explicit instructions, she did not consent, it was rape.’
Ms Doyle told Parliament the woman is ‘hurt and angry this powerful man felt entitled to assault her’.
‘She remains fearful that this powerful man will seek reprisals against her for reporting this rape,’ she added.
Johnsen allegedly suggested the pair have sex in his parliamentary office. Above, NSW State Parliament on Macquarie St
Johnsen later outed himself as the man accused in order to firmly deny the allegation.
‘I am devastated by these allegations,’ he said in a statement.
‘I am confident any investigation will conclude that I am an innocent party.
‘Without admission, I have chosen to step aside from my Parliamentary Secretary role, and will not sit in the Nationals Party Room nor the Joint Party Room.
‘I will be taking leave effective immediately for a short duration.
‘As the matter is with the NSW Police I will make no further public comment.’