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Upper house candidate Peter Poulos has been suspended from the New South Wales Liberal Party for six months, after facing backlash for sharing explicit photos of Liberal MP Robyn Preston in 2018.
This comes as NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet revealed on Friday that Poulos had resigned from his role as Parliamentary Secretary.
A NSW Liberal Party spokesman confirmed that Mr Poulos had been turned away on Saturday and will continue to he will no longer be able to run as a Liberal candidate for the Legislative Council in the March 25 election.
Peter Poulos (pictured) has been suspended from the NSW Liberal Party for six months, after facing immense backlash for sharing explicit photos of Liberal MP Robyn Preston in 2018.
X-rated photographs of Robyn Preston (pictured alongside NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet) from a 1980s Penthouse magazine were shared when she was applying for shortlist at Hawkesbury, Sydney’s North West headquarters, Five years ago.
“This afternoon the State Director, in consultation with the State Chairman, exercised campaign powers to suspend Peter Poulos from the NSW Division for a period of six months,” the spokesman said.
“While Mr. Poulos apologized for his actions to the person in question and to the community, his conduct did not meet the standard of behavior expected of members of our Party.
‘The Party will promptly fill the vacancy on the ticket in accordance with the requirements of our Constitution.’
X-rated photographs of Ms Preston from a 1980s Penthouse magazine were shared when she applied for shortlisting at the Hawkesbury headquarters in north-west Sydney five years ago.
The email was sent to another Liberal MP, with the subject line “Treasurer’s pet” and the message “Enjoy” and “clean pdf”.
It is understood that he was working for NSW Treasurer Matt Kean at the time. Hours before Poulos’ suspension was announced, Kean called the incident “very disappointing.”
“I understand that it happened in a private capacity, but it doesn’t matter if it happened in someone’s private capacity or not,” he said.
“There is no place for disrespect anywhere in our community.”
While Ms Preston would win the seat, she was at the time a councilor on Hills Shire Council, and Mr Poulos worked as a political staffer.
Ms Preston confirmed there was no bad blood between her and Mr Poulos, whom she described as a “great mate”.
“Peter called me and apologized personally and was very sorry,” he said.
‘We support each other along the way on our path in politics and in friendship.’
Speaking to reporters on Saturday morning, Perrottet said he was “appalled and disgusted” by the incident when it occurred, but had accepted the parliamentary staffer’s apology.
The incident caused the parliamentarian distress at the time, Perrottet said.
Peter has apologized, as he should have. There is no place for such behavior in any workplace. I have made it very clear.
“I hope the New South Wales Liberal Party will also act appropriately.”
The prime minister’s sharp language comes after he appeared to defend the upper house MP earlier this week, saying Poulos had offered a sincere apology for the incident.
‘People make mistakes. Nobody is perfect. I have made several mistakes in life,” Perrottet said Wednesday.
Prime Minister Dominic Perrottet (pictured) said he was “appalled and disgusted” by the incident when it occurred, but accepted the parliamentary staffer’s apology.
On Saturday, NSW Treasurer Matt Kean also said he was “very disappointed” in Poulos, although he did not speculate on the MP’s future in the Liberal Party, which the deputy Liberal leader said was an internal matter.
This is disrespectful. I don’t think disrespect has any role in workplaces or anywhere in our community,” she said.
Labor leader Chris Minns said Poulos’s behavior was appalling and would likely lead to instant dismissal in any workplace, especially in public service.
The government was embroiled in a second scandal on Friday when Finance Minister Damien Tudehope resigned from his portfolio after declaring he held shares in the owner of the Transurban toll road.
The company operates most of Sydney’s toll roads and the city’s toll regime is one of several key issues in the elections.
The prime minister accepted Tudehope’s resignation, adding that lawyers from the Prime Minister and Cabinet Department cleared him of any wrongdoing.
But Perrottet declined to release that advice, saying he had already acted on the findings.
Minns argued that it should be made public as withholding the information from the public was “problematic”.
Asked if the Liberal Party was in disarray six weeks before state elections, the prime minister and treasurer insisted the party remained focused on helping families.
On Saturday, the coalition pledged $1.5 billion to establish a Clean Energy Superpower Fund to invest in renewable energy and drive the state’s transition away from fossil fuels.
The Prime Minister also announced a record funding increase of $23 million for the state’s lifeguards, for new rescue vehicles, personal watercraft and upgrades to its emergency communication devices.
Meanwhile, Labor has pledged $13 million over the next four years to send another 50 police officers to south-west Sydney to tackle escalating crime.