Australian MP apologises for describing reporter as a 'mad w
Por: Guillermo T.
04 de Maio de 2016

Australian MP apologises for describing reporter as a 'mad w

Inglês

An Australian cabinet member has been forced to apologise after describing a journalist as a “mad f***ing witch” in a private text message which he accidentally sent her.

Peter Dutton, the immigration minister, has intended to send the message to Jamie Briggs, a fellow minister who resigned last week following a late-night incident involving a female diplomat at a bar in Hong Kong.

Instead, Mr Dutton sent the message to Samantha Maiden, a reporter at Sydney’s Sunday Telegraph, who quickly responded: “Mate, you've sent the text to the mad witch.”

Mr Dutton immediately apologised, saying he was “expecting a tough time in her next column”.

"Sam and I have exchanged some robust language over the years, so we had a laugh after this and I apologised to her straight away which she took in good faith," he said in a statement.

Ms Maiden said she was not offended and did not regard the message as sexist.

 


 

The incident followed a similar gaffe for Mr Dutton who was caught on a microphone last September making a joke about low-lying Pacific nations disappearing under the rising seas.

The opposition said the text message was offensive to women, describing Mr Dutton’s behaviour as “unbecoming of anyone, let alone a senior cabinet minister”.

“We’re starting to get a bit of a picture of what Peter Dutton’s private views are,” said Labor MP Penny Wong. “We’ve had a couple of insights and they’re pretty boorish.”

The incident has added to a worsening scandal for the government following the resignation last week of two ministers, including Mr Briggs, a married father of three who was the subject of a complaint by an Australian civil servant in Hong Kong.

 


 

Mr Briggs allegedly kissed the woman on the neck or cheek and told her she had “piercing eyes”.

He claimed his behaviour was not illegal but admitted he was guilty of an "error of professional judgement".

Following his resignation, it emerged that Mr Briggs had sent a photograph from the night to colleagues, which was subsequently leaked to the weekend newspapers.

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