The party’s investigation into allegations made by Wicks about Martin found he engaged in “abusive conduct” towards her,according to multiple sources who were present when a summary of the findings was delivered to the party’s state executive meeting last Friday.
Taylor Martin is alleged to have sent former federal MP Lucy Wicks profane and abusive text messages.Wolter Peeters,Supplied
The investigator’s report found Martin’s conduct involved yelling at and abusing Wicks,and said that he flew into rages,gave tirades,used “degrading abusive and misogynistic language” towards her and “made vile accusations” against her,the meeting was told.
The report also concluded that Martin,whose behaviour allegedly began during a relationship with Wicks and continued after they broke up in 2019,falsely claimed that a senior member of her staff had threatened to blackmail him.
This masthead does not suggest that an offence,which can only be determined at a criminal trial,has occurred.
The senior counsel hired to investigate the allegations,Trish McDonald,also suggested in her findings that the messages,sent via WhatsApp,could constitute an offence under a Commonwealth law prohibiting use of a carriage service to menace,harass or offend.
Sources close to Wicks,speaking anonymously due to party rules,said a copy of her original complaint,which includes the text messages,was given to police on the weekend,and further information was given to detectives on Monday.
was backed by a vast majority of the 27 people present at Friday’s meeting,said the sources,speaking anonymously as they were bound by strict confidentiality rules. He can appeal at the next meeting.
Wicks and Martin were informed of the decision on Friday night. Wicks refused to comment on Monday. Martin said he was seeking legal advice.
Wicks lodged her formal complaint about Martin’s behaviour with the party in July. People who have seen the complaint,speaking anonymously to protect confidences,said it ran to hundreds of pages and raised a range of allegations about Martin’s behaviour.
It also included copies of hundreds of text messages,in which the upper house MP allegedly repeatedly described Wicks as a “dumb slut”,a “pig”,a “f---wit”,a “c---“,and a “sicko”. One text seen by theHeraldsaid:“Go stay in your world of f---ing make believe you f---ing pig ignorant bitch.”
Former Liberal upper house MP Taylor Martin.James Brickwood
The party hired McDonald as an independent investigator.
The complaint says Wicks told police of Martin’s behaviour in April 2022. However,she requested officers not take it any further due to the concerns about the impact of any publicity on her children,the complaint said.
Wicks then made a verbal complaint about Martin’s behaviour to then state director Chris Stone and party leader Mark Speakman in February last year. They asked her to file a formal,written complaint,which she did in July.
Members of state executive were told about the findings of McDonald’s report on Friday night,but were not given copies. The decision to expel Martin was carried on assenting voices,rather than a show of hands,with only a few (whose identities were not clear) objecting.
Some members,mostly from Martin’s Centre Right faction,asked whether the party should be investigating allegations involving two people in a consenting relationship,and whether that was a job more appropriate for police or parliamentary services.
One asked whether the party intended to investigate Martin’s counter-allegations that he was the true victim. The meeting was told that both Wicks and Martin participated in the investigation and gave detailed responses to the allegations raised in the complaint.
Martin served as Wicks’ electorate officer before becoming the youngest person in state parliament when he was appointed to an upper house seat in 2017.
Martin’s move to the crossbench leaves the Coalition with 14 seats to Labor’s 15.
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