Robyn Parker has retaliated after a Coalition MP made violent and offensive comments about her.
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Murray Darling MP John Williams said that Ms Parker had “never had a real man” and he threatened to “tear her a new orifice” at a party gathering in April, Fairfax Media reported at the weekend.
Premier Mike Baird said there was no excuse for Mr Williams’ comments.
“I find it disgusting and abhorrent that anyone would use such language and I am extremely disappointed in the MP,” he said.
Ms Parker said she heard about the comments in April, but did not go public with them until a journalist contacted her about the incident late last week.
“I thought the comments were offensive and violent in nature,” she told the Mercury.
“It’s important not to justify the attitudes and not to justify the words.
Mr Williams phoned Ms Parker yesterday morning to discuss the issue.
“It was a private conversation and I accepted the apology,” Ms Parker said.
“The sad thing is that it wasn’t an isolated incident and it’s not restricted to one party or another.
“Unfortunately now, people use words without realising they are there for a long, long time.”
She said the comments had come at a time when the world had moved to a 24-hour-a-day news cycle and young people were encouraged to use social media responsibly.
“People have taken their lives over things like this,” she said.
She said personal attacks were not OK and that the comments represented a backwards step for women in politics.
She said the fact that she was the first female member for Maitland, and was elected as recently as 2011, showed that many women had been turned off a life in politics.
“If you ignore [sexist behaviour] it is going to be there for a long time,” she said.
“We shouldn’t be apologising for bad behaviour, we should be stopping bad behaviour.”
A spokesman for Deputy Premier and NSW Nationals leader Andrew Stoner said Mr Stoner had privately discussed the issue with Mr Williams.
The Mercury contacted Mr Williams’ office for comment, but he had not responded before deadline.
John Williams is the state member for the Murray Darling, an electorate that stretches across western NSW and reaches the Victorian and Queensland borders.
Broken Hill and Deniliquin are two major centres of the electorate.
He is a National Party member.
