Australia politician admits texting ‘my job is boring’ during meeting

SYDNEY – An Australian politician has been left red-faced after being forced to admit on Aug 6 that he texted “my job is boring” and an expletive to a contact during a meeting.

Mark Parton – who leads the opposition Liberal Party in the Australian Capital Territory – was subject this week to a complaint alleging that he sent the message to a sex worker, local media reported.

“And f- my job is boring. Wanna swop,” Parton reportedly wrote, accompanied by a picture of a committee meeting in July, according to The Canberra Times.

After initially denying the complaint in full as a “smear”, he told journalists on Aug 6 that he did send the text but denied that it was to a sex worker.

He did not say who the message was sent to and defended it, arguing that he was still “holding the government to account”.

“There’s a hell of a lot of private messages that are sent from a hell of a lot of people in the context of sitting days and hearings,” he said.

“I think it’s appropriate to send private messages to people that are not designed for the public realm,” he said.

“I’ve got an off-the-cuff larrikin communication style,” he admitted, using an Australian slang referring to someone with an irreverent sense of humour.

“I understand that most people’s perception of budget estimates hearings is that they’re pretty boring.”

The complaint had been dismissed and he has referred the police to the alleged “harassment”.

In response to a request for comment from AFP, Parton’s office shared a recording of Aug 6’s media conference. AFP