NSW premier stands by MP Peter Poulos who leaked explicit photos of female rival
The New South Wales premier, Dominic Perrottet, has stood by under-siege Liberal party MP Peter Poulos after it was revealed he leaked explicit photos of a female rival.
Poulos told the Sunday Telegraph that he had “made a regrettable mistake” in forwarding photos of the woman to a fellow Liberal party member during a preselection battle five years ago.
The female MP, who Guardian Australia has chosen not to name, went on to win preselection.
The photos were taken from a Penthouse modelling shoot she had done in the 1980s.
On Wednesday, Perrottet labelled Poulos’ actions “incredibly inappropriate” after talking with the MP to remind him of his responsibilities.
However, Poulous has retained his place on the Liberal ticket at the upcoming election.
“People make mistakes,” the premier told reporters when asked about the incident on Wednesday.
“No one is perfect. I’ve made a number of mistakes in life.
“The main thing is when you do [make mistakes], you stand up, you take responsibility for it, you apologise.
“That’s what Peter has done.”
The female MP described Poulos as a “great mate”, said he’d apologised and that she no longer wished to speak about the incident.
However, Labor’s upper house leader Penny Sharpe says Poulos’ behaviour was unacceptable and the Liberal party should deal with it.
“If the question is whether he’s sharing inappropriate images of a female member of parliament, of course that’s inappropriate and should not be tolerated,” Sharpe said.
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Federal MP Zali Steggall also weighed in on Twitter, questioning how Poulos could not be called upon to immediately resign.
Poulos entered the NSW upper house in May 2021 to replace John Ajaka and has not yet faced an election.
Prior to that he worked as a policy adviser to now treasurer Matt Kean when he was the minister for energy and environment.
He has also been a member of the NSW state executive of the Liberal party and a Rockdale city councillor.
Poulos has been contacted for comment.