NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet has said “people make mistakes” in response to a scandal involving Liberal upper house MP Peter Poulos, who leaked explicit images of a female colleague.
According to a report from The Daily Telegraph, Peter Poulous leaked explicit images of Robyn Presten, the Liberal MP for Hawkesbury via email to another Liberal member.
The report indicates that the incident occurred five years ago, when Poulos was working as a political staffer and as Preston was vying for preselection for the seat of Hawkesbury.
It emerged during the preselection battle that Preston had modelled for Penthouse during the 1980s. The Daily Telegraph reported that Poulos sent an email to another Liberal member with the subject “Treasurer’s Pet” and Preston’s modelling images.
Poulos has now apologised for his actions, but remains in the NSW parliament.
On Tuesday, Perrottet was asked about Poulos’ actions, and said “he should be sorry because that is incredibly inappropriate. I spoke to Peter over the course of the weekend to remind him of his responsibilities and my highest expectations”.
“People make mistakes,” Perrott said. “No one is perfect. I’ve made a number of mistakes in life.The main thing is when you do, you stand up, you take responsibility for it, you apologise. That’s what Peter has done.”
Perrottet has not asked Poulos to resign, who became an upper house MLC in 2021 when he was chosen to replace the retiring John Ajaka.
On Twitter, federal MP Zali Steggall questioned why Poulos has not been asked to resign.
Preston has said that Poulos has called her to apologise, and said the pair are “great mates”.
“This is something that’s been brought up for decades now and I wish that we would respect the the opportunity to put it to bed,” she said, according to AAP.
In NSW, distributing explicit images of another person without consent became a crime in 2017, with perpetrators of initmate image abuse facing a maximum sentence of three years’ jail and a fine of $11,000.
The scandal has unfolded amid the campaign for the upcoming NSW election and as the Liberal Party has come under scrutinty for a lack of women preselected in seats across the state.