Sex culture: PM’s claim challenged

The whistleblower on Parliament House’s sex culture claims hook-ups and blow-jobs at work were occurring even while Scott Morrison was Prime Minister.

Scott Morrison. Picture: Getty Images

The whistleblower on Parliament House’s sex culture claims hook-ups and blow-jobs at work were occurring even while Scott Morrison was Prime Minister and says he has provided detailed information in lengthy exchanges with Finance Minister Simon Birmingham’s office this week.

“Tom the Whistleblower” — who spoke on the condition of anonymity — said he met with Senator Birmingham’s chief of staff on Thursday from 10.30am to midday in a quiet room in Parliament House after an initial 30-minute phone conversation at about 9am that day.

Tom told The Weekend Australian he was informed late on Friday by Senator Birmingham’s office that the Finance Department was “commencing an investigation” into political staff and he had been asked to provide statements. He also said he verbally provided information to Senator Birmingham’s chief of staff relating to four people who are current and former staffers; three non-staffers; one sex worker; a former minister and a sitting MP about a string of sexual encounters from September 2015 to 2020.

He said he had prepared a digital file containing texts, videos and images to support his claims, but that it was not requested in his discussions on Thursday with the government and not passed on.

Senator Birmingham’s office did not deny meeting with Tom and The Weekend Australian understands the government was on Friday hoping to collect information for possible examination.

Tom said he felt “quite good” after the meeting on Thursday but was disappointed later that day when the Prime Minister told parliament during question time that he had truthfully said earlier that day in an interview that the lewd activity by staff had, to his knowledge, not happened when he was Prime Minister.

“I answered honestly,” Mr Morrison said. “I am not aware of that behaviour having taken place, but if other information comes forward then I am happy to address that.

“These acts that have been referred to in the media I just find completely incomprehensible.”

Tom said he had text messages in which a staffer had boasted to him of meeting a colleague in a “lockable toilet” in Parliament House after receiving a message saying “wanna blow me?”.

The encounter is said to have happened when Mr Morrison was Prime Minister and allegedly involved a staffer for Liberal MP Dave Sharma. However, The Weekend Australian understands that Mr Sharma, who holds the seat of Wentworth in Sydney’s east, had not been provided with any evidence to suggest such an event occurred.

Tom said he had spoken out to throw a spotlight on the culture at the building, adding most of the activity he was aware of did not happen when parliament was sitting because it was too busy.

He was motivated by watching the ABC’s Four Corners episode, Inside the Canberra Bubble, which aired in November and had sent an email through to the broadcaster to tell his history but said it did not respond. “I thought that my story fitted in well with the overall narrative that they were telling. It wasn’t male and ­female. But the narrative was there and that was very similar.”