Penny Wong asks Prime Minister to explain ‘mad witch’ text from Dutton

The text message, in which Dutton used an expletive and called Maiden a mad witch, was reportedly intended for Briggs, local media said.

Barnaby Joyce is most likely to become our Deputy Prime Minister when Warren Truss resigns, but he’s feeling nervous about the state of Australian politics.

But Australian Immigration Minister Peter Dutton’s version of the modern faux pas was exacerbated by the fact that he mistakenly sent the offending text to a prominent journalist, calling her a “mad ****ing witch”.

Dutton apparently wanted to send the “mad witch” text to Briggs but ended up sending it to Maiden who called it a “solid sledge”.

But Ms Maiden says she doesn’t want the minister to end up on the back bench over the incident.

The text message was a distraction to the real issue which was the conduct of Mr Briggs, she said.

The woman, who has not been named, was the same public servant who made a sexual harassment complaint about Mr Briggs’ behaviour during a late-night drinking session in a Hong Kong bar, which ultimately led to his resignation.

Dutton admitted that he sent the text after reading a column written by Samantha Maiden, political editor for News Corp’s Sunday newspapers.

Messrs Abbott and Dutton had a chuckle until Mr Morrison said: “There’s a boom up there”.

“If he fails to front up, he’s sending the clear signal he thinks this behaviour is appropriate”.

But Mr Birmingham noted Mr Dutton’s quick action, telling the ABC he prevented a potential “witch hunt” over text.

She then referred to a text she received that was “clearly not meant for me” from a Liberal MP, in which she was described as a “mad witch”.

Education Minister Simon Birmingham said the incident was “unfortunate”, but Mr Dutton recognised his error and immediately contacted the journalist to apologise.

News Corp papers shared a pixelated image of the public servant, and Maiden used her column to allege the photograph was taken by Briggs and shared with colleagues.

“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.

Mr Dutton later refused to answer questions about the incident.