‘Hell on Earth, and then some’: Lucy Wicks was subjected to years of abuse, but now the tide has turned

Former federal MP Lucy Wicks is frank about the past few years. “It’s been hell on Earth, and then some,” she says. “It’s been the hardest experience of my life.”

A messy divorce led to financial hardship that, after losing her income when she lost her seat in 2022, left her worrying about housing her children. Overlaying that was years of trauma caused by a NSW MP who was expelled from the party this year for abusive conduct towards her; bombarding Wicks with hundreds of messages that called her a dumb slut, a pig and a f--king idiot, and warning he’d destroy her reputation if she said anything about it.

“I remember one day, just being bent over double, being unable to move or breathe,” she says. “It felt like it went on forever.”

For various legal, party political and personal reasons, she wasn’t able to speak out. As she puts it, she was robbed of her voice, which was “probably the worst thing you can do to somebody”. But Wicks’ doctor told her she’d get through it if she just kept standing. So she did.

Now, things are looking up for Wicks. She has a new partner, architect Caine King. She leaned on government services, which she credits for helping her become more resilient. And she has been preselected as the Liberal candidate for Robertson, the Central Coast seat she held for a decade before losing it in the 2022 election, which has prompted her to finally speak out.

Lucy Wicks with her partner, Caine King.

“The hardest part about what I’ve been through is you feel like it steals your future,” she says. “And I don’t think it has to. It gave me more determination. It increased my passion. I feel hardened by what I’ve been through, in the sense of being more resilient. But I’m not weary. I’m happy.

“I’m grateful to have my voice and have my sense of self and purpose back. To know my future does not have to be my past.”

The Liberal Party has a patchy track record when it comes to women, particularly when they’ve caused a fuss. And Wicks’ complaint to the party about Taylor Martin, a former staffer in her electorate office with whom she had a relationship after he left to become an upper house MP in the NSW parliament, was explosive.

It detailed hundreds of texts sent by Martin during and after their relationship in which he told her she was a “dumb slut”, a “pig”, a “f---kwit’, a “c--t”, and a “sicko”. In one text exchange, Wicks wrote, “Think about where we will be as a nation in 10 years.” Martin replied, in capital letters, “THIS SHIT IS WHY I’M SO ANGRY AT YOU … STOP TALKING TO ME LIKE THIS WHILE YOU KILL ME YOU F---WIT.”

When Wicks apologised – “ok. Tay I. Sorry [sic]” – Martin responded, “You bitch. You don’t even try and get it. You f—ing bitch. Listen to yourself, don’t [tell] such lies to me you slut.”

NSW upper house MP Taylor Martin, who was expelled from the Liberal Party earlier this year.

Martin also insisted Wicks stop using certain words, said one person close to her on the condition of anonymity. They included “thrilled”, “excited” or “permutation”. If she slipped up, he accused her of not listening to him. This masthead spoke to several former staffers who noticed Wicks becoming increasingly anxious about her language, and paranoid about using certain words on social media or in press conferences.

In parliament in late 2021, Wicks made a speech about the impact of coercive control. “[It] feels like being torn apart from the inside,” she said. “Your reality becomes skewed until you are left taking ownership of the problems in the relationship, just to try to stop the terror. It takes away your dignity, your strength, your safety, your sense of agency, your sanity – and sometimes your health.”

The party investigated her complaint, lodged in mid-2023. Many politicians, on both sides of parliament, took Martin’s side. One senior Liberal Party MP described Wicks as a “bunny boiler”. One person who worked for Wicks, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said many people “didn’t just not believe her. They didn’t even listen. They didn’t give her a call.”

After the findings were presented to the NSW state executive in April (some people thought the investigation was too long, allowing rumours to fester) Martin was expelled. The investigator, a prominent barrister, found his conduct involved yelling at and abusing Wicks, and flying into rages, going on tirades, using “degrading abusive and misogynistic language” towards her and making “vile accusations”.

Martin declined to comment but a person close to him, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said Martin’s position on the words Wicks used were given in the context of professional speaking advice.

In the end, the drama did not put off preselectors in Robertson or the party’s Nomination Review Committee, which checks candidates’ closets for skeletons and potential scandals.

The tide has turned for Lucy Wicks.Credit: Steven Siewert

Asked what her experience revealed about the Liberal Party’s treatment of women, Wicks said some of her greatest supporters during the ordeal were party members. They included former prime minister Scott Morrison, a factional ally for whom she worked when he was member for Cook.

“[He] saw it was hard,” she says. “He supported me emphatically and relentlessly. He got me to speak to the Parliamentary Workplace Support Services unit that he set up [after the sexual assault of Brittany Higgins in a Coalition minister’s office]. I have to say they were a big part of my recovery. They really helped me find my voice.”

Wicks says she was robbed of her voice, yet for some of that time, she was a member of parliament. How can someone have no voice in one part of their life, yet a have powerful platform in another?

“That’s how it works. That it doesn’t distinguish – it can happen to anyone – and that it’s so secret; only two people really know it’s happening. That’s why we all need to work together to stamp out abuse against women.”

Wicks says her experience has given her insight into the daily challenges faced by people on the Central Coast. The cost of living, finding a GP, paying utility bills, affording a home, even finding a rental; the number of people living rough in the region is growing.

“One in three women over 45 in Robertson are renting, like me,” she says. “Many women find themselves as single parents. The financial security that perhaps you once may have thought you had – your life circumstances throw something different at you.

“That’s part of my lived experience. But it’s all part and parcel of what I hope to be able to bring as the candidate. I hope to stand up and champion my community and say, ‘Life can be better. Things can be better’. I don’t think I’m going to forget the past couple of years, but what I lived through is what a lot of people have lived through. My hope is that I can be their voice and be this community’s voice.”

The incumbent member for Robertson, Labor’s Gordon Reid, said he was committed to delivering cost of living relief for the community, seeking infrastructure funding and “ensuring government services are working for the households of the Central Coast.”

For counselling and support contact 1800Respect on 1800 737 732.

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