NSW Treasurer Matt Kean has blamed ‘fat thumbs’ after retweeting a message slamming his government’s ‘double standards’ over the sacking of female minister – a woman he had previously been embroiled with in a sexting scandal.
Mr Kean retweeted a post blasting the NSW Government for taking ‘swift decisive action against a woman’ following the sacking of Eleni Petinos – comparing it to the treatment of Stuart Ayres and John Barilaro in the New York ‘dream job’ saga.
Mr Ayres was still Trade Minister at the time of the tweet, but he has since resigned after a draft report found he may have breached the ministerial code of conduct.
Ms Petinos was sacked over allegations of bullying, including that she called a staff member ‘ret**ded’ and ‘stupid’, which she strenuously denies.
The tweet shared by Mr Kean read: ‘The perception among women: something very rotten in NSW govt.
‘Swift decisive action against a woman accused over the ‘possibility’ of unsafe workplace practices, & yet… the Barilaro/Ayres situation? Double standards.’
NSW Treasurer Matt Kean (left) is pictured with fellow Liberal MP Eleni Petinos, who he had previously sent an explicit sext message to

Pictured is the controversial retweet from Matt Kean that he subsequently deleted and blamed on ‘fat thumbs’
The retweet was quickly deleted by Mr Kean, who later said he ’discovered my account here did some unauthorised retweeting earlier’.
‘There’s now an official ban on fat thumbs in my office, and I’m calling on Twitter to move the ‘retweet’ button safely to the top corner, out of harm’s way!’ he wrote.
On Wednesday morning 2GB radio host Ben Fordham said ‘Apparently he’s got a faulty thumb, or is there something deeper going on in the NSW government?’
Mr Kean’s explicit sexting messages to Ms Petinos – he texted ‘Really need to f**k you’ – from December 2017 were previously exposed by his former girlfriend.
On Monday, NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet said Ms Petinos’ situation and that of Mr Ayres’ were entirely separate.
‘One goes to behaviour and a safe workplace … I made the judgment call that Ms Petinos needed to stand down,’ the Premier said.

Ms Petinos texted Mr Kean: ‘Just got your Christmas card you’re absolutely gorgeous – love you xx’

Eleni Petinos, who was sacked over bullying claims she strenuously denies, is pictured promoting a suicide prevention charity
Ms Petinos denied the ‘allegations’ against her at the time the sexts from Mr Kean were made public by his furious ex-girlfriend Caitlin Keage.
‘I deny the allegations. It pains me to be making a statement about matters which are outside the scope of my work and are entirely personal,’ she said.
Ms Keage shared copies of texts he sent to Ms Petinos on a private Instagram account.


The Innovation Minister’s furious ex-girlfriend Caitlin Keage (pictured together left) posted copies of the texts (mock up right) on her private Instagram account
‘When your boyfriend cheats on you when you’re away with family,’ Ms Keage, a former media adviser to Malcolm Turnbull, captioned the Instagram post.
‘I was in Adelaide trusting my partner not to play up. But alas, here we are. Another minister getting away with his predatory behaviour,’ Ms Keage said.
The messages revealed Mr Kean told Ms Petinos he was ‘tempted to drive down to see’ her, just after 10pm on December 27, 2017.
She replied: ‘Miss me huh? lol,’ before he said: ‘Yup. Really need to f**k you.’

Miranda MP Eleni Petinos (pictured) was fired from the NSW Government ministry on Sunday
Ms Petinos said he already had ‘CK for that’ and when he asked ‘is that a no?’, she replied: ‘It’s that time of the month’.
Mr Kean said: ‘OK come up later x.’
She later texted Mr Kean and said: ‘Just got your Christmas card you’re absolutely gorgeous – love you xx’.

‘I was in Adelaide trusting my partner not to play up,’ Ms Keage captioned the Instagram post, which was subsequently deleted

The messages revealed Mr Kean told Ms Petinos (pictured) he was ‘tempted to drive down to see you’ just after 10pm on December 27, 2017
Mr Kean’s then boss, former NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian, said she would not sack him over the scandal.
‘I’m personally disappointed in him and have told him so, but it is nonetheless a personal matter,’ she said at the time.
Ms Petinos had previously made headlines after vomiting in the back of a government car after a State of Origin game in Sydney – an incident that became known as ‘Barfgate’.
There was also a backlash after she flew to the Gold Coast to watch the Commonwealth Games as a bushfire ravaged her electorate.
Ms Petinos went to see a netball game despite the deliberately-lit blaze burning in the southern Sydney suburb of Alfords Point, in her electorate’s west.
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