Breaking: ACT Opposition Leader admits to texting 'f*** my job is boring' during hearing

ACT Opposition Leader Mark Parton admits to texting 'f*** my job is boring' during estimates hearing Thu 6 Aug 2026 at 11:32am ACT Opposition Leader Mark Parton has admitted he sent a text message complaining about how boring his job is during budget estimates. In a press conference on Thursday morning, the Canberra Liberals leader admitted to sending a text that said "f*** my job is boring" but did not reveal who he sent it to. A complaint was previously lodged against him alleging Mr Parton had sent the text to a sex worker, something he denies. But today, Mr Parton said he had been told the standards commissioner would not be investigating the allegations made in the complaint. "I was contacted by the standards commissioner last night, who wrote to me to advise that he had received an anonymous complaint, but he had made the call not to investigate further, and he was obliged to do that," Mr Parton said. He said the commissioner did not say why he had chosen not to investigate. 'Clear attempt to smear' In a statement sent by a spokesperson last night, Mr Parton denied the allegations made in the complaint in full. "These claims are false, malicious and a clear attempt to smear the Leader of the Opposition,"the statement said. "Mr Parton first became aware of the complaint Monday morning. He rejects the allegations in full." The statement said the image of the alleged text was shared via SMS with three people on Friday, including Mr Parton's wife. Asked today by the ABC if he had texted "f*** my job is boring", Mr Parton said: "Yes I did". He defended the content of the text message, saying he had been working long hours and "holding the government to account". "There's a hell of a lot of private messages that are sent from a hell of a lot of people in the context of sitting days and hearings," he said. "To be honest, I'm not sure that they're really anybody's business other than the sender and the receiver." Loading