Mr Martin has been expelled from the Parliamentary Liberal Party following a complaint made almost a year ago. A supporter of Martin, speaking anonymously, claimed that the party took too long to act on the complaint, and that supporters of Martin had tried to discredit the former MP by calling the accusations baseless. The Herald revealed messages sent by Martin to Wicks, with whom he had a previous relationship, in which he used derogatory language such as “dumb slut”, “pig”, “f—wit”, and “c—“. Martin admitted to using heated words during an “ugly and undignified” break-up and stated that there were two sides to every story.
Taylor expressed shock and disappointment at the decision to expel Martin from the party. Martin had previously served as Wicks’ electorate officer before being appointed to an upper house seat in 2017. He is a member of the Centre-Right faction in the party. When the texts were made public, Martin stood aside from the party room during the investigation. The move to expel Martin from the party leaves the Coalition with 14 seats, one less than Labor’s 15 seats.
Wicks declined to comment on the situation, but a supporter of Martin stated that supporters of the former MP had tried to discredit the allegations by calling them baseless, and that the party had allowed this to continue by not acting sooner. The messages revealed by the Herald showed Martin using derogatory language towards Wicks, including calling her a “dumb slut”, a “pig”, and other derogatory terms. Martin admitted to using heated language during their break-up and stated that there were two sides to every story.
The decision to expel Martin from the Parliamentary Liberal Party was made in order to uphold the highest standards of behavior expected from MPs. It was stated that the public is entitled to expect the highest standards of behavior by MPs. Martin’s move to the crossbench leaves the Coalition with 14 seats compared to Labor’s 15 seats. Taylor expressed shock and disappointment at the decision and supporters of Martin claimed that the party had taken too long to act on the complaint made almost a year ago.
Martin’s expulsion from the party comes after a complaint was made almost a year ago regarding his behavior. The Herald revealed text messages between Martin and Wicks, in which Martin used derogatory language towards her, leading to his expulsion from the party. Martin stood aside from the party room during the investigation and admitted to using heated language during their break-up. His move to the crossbench leaves the Coalition with 14 seats, one less than Labor’s 15 seats. Supporter of Martin claimed that the party had taken too long to act on the complaint and tried to discredit the allegations that were made almost a year ago.
