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What Mark Parton said to me after he sicced his followers on me

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friday

It's taken me a while to write this because I always feel it is best not to write when upset.

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So, here we are, months after the events that made me lose my mind; and I no longer feel like shouting. I feel like speaking my mind.

Yes, this is about what happens to women who express opinions - but also about what happens when a senior politician decides to encourage a pile-on.

Mark Parton is the leader of the ACT opposition, in as much as it genuinely exists. It would be a tough gig at the best of times in very Labor territory. But his behaviour recently has made me wonder whether he is up to the job.

He was accused of sending a text to a sex worker during a budget estimates hearing. That included one saying "f--- my job is boring. Wanna swap". How did we hear about this? An anonymous complaint about Parton's alleged behaviour was sent to Speaker Jeremy Hanson.

He denies everything, at least as far as the sex worker is concerned. He doesn't deny saying his job is boring.

ACT Attorney-General Tara Cheyne didn't care one bit if the allegation was true. "Sex work is work. It's a legitimate profession, and if that's who it was, so be it," she said.

I do not care much about the job of the text recipient either, except in this circumstance where the texter has the law-and-order, family vibe. If it's true he was sending texts to a sex worker while at the same time sharing images of his wife on social media and thanking her, then that's more than ick.

The fact Parton so vehemently denied that there was a sex worker involved suggests he - and presumably his wife - doesn't agree it's a "so be it" matter.

Also, I do care that a bloke earning $300,000 a year and who is meant to be representing territorians........

© The Examiner