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‘Sent abusive texts’: Secret party report reveals why upper house member was dumped

A highly-confidential Liberal Party report into a complaint lodged by former federal MP Lucy Wicks against her ex-staffer Taylor Martin found that he had engaged in “abusive conduct” towards her for a “substantial period of time”.

Former federal Liberal MP Lucy Wicks and her ex-staffer Taylor Martin in 2019.
Former federal Liberal MP Lucy Wicks and her ex-staffer Taylor Martin in 2019.

A highly-confidential Liberal Party report into a complaint lodged by former federal MP Lucy Wicks against her ex-staffer Taylor Martin found that he had engaged in “abusive conduct” towards her for a “substantial period of time”.

The report by Patricia McDonald SC, whom the party engaged to investigate the complaint, is understood to state how Martin “yelled” and “abused” Ms Wicks, “flew into rages, gave tirades, used ­degrading, abusive and ­misogynistic language” towards the MP.

Ms McDonald’s report is understood to conclude how Mr Martin’s conduct had demonstrated “a substantial failure” to reach a reasonable standard of conduct as a member of parliament, while noting how the sending of messages via WhatsApp that a reasonable person could regard as “menacing, harassing or offensive” constitute a breach of the Commonwealth Criminal Code.

Almost nine months since The Saturday Telegraph revealed how the party had received a formal complaint from a then-unnamed woman about a NSW Liberal MP who had sent her a series of foul-mouth texts – including calling her a c--t – the party concluded its investigation with the expulsion of Mr Martin.

The Upper House MLC had been in a secret relationship with Ms Wicks, who was 18 years his senior.

He was a 25-year-old staffer in her Robertson electorate office before she lost the seat at the 2022 federal election.

A Liberal source familiar with the situation described the relationship as “messy” and “volatile”.

Many of the texts were sent long after the relationship had ended, including during a period between 2020 and 2021 after Mr Martin had moved to the NSW Upper House.

Upon text messages becoming public, Mr Martin admitted to using heated words and apologised.

Lucy Wicks and her ex-staffer Taylor Martin in 2019.
Lucy Wicks and her ex-staffer Taylor Martin in 2019.

Neither he nor Ms Wicks were given a copy of Ms McDonald’s report, although a Liberal Party source aware of some of the findings shared them with The Sunday ­Telegraph.

The terms of reference are also being kept secret but are understood to be restricted to Ms Wicks complaint and Mr Martin’s behaviour in terms of the party’s conduct rules.

When informed by NSW Liberal state director Richard Shields of his expulsion on Friday night, Mr Martin expressed his “shock and disappointment” at the ­decision.

He also said he would consider lodging an appeal but would first discuss the next steps with his lawyer.

“I am meeting with my lawyer to review the findings over the next week and to decide on my next steps,” Mr Martin said.

“In the meantime, I will work from the crossbench.”

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Original URL: https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/nsw/sent-abusive-texts-secret-party-report-reveals-why-upper-house-member-was-dumped/news-story/6ffe83080e9e4f2626506345cceb23a7