Married Australian MP to stand down over 'G'day mate' sexting scandal

A married Australian MP will quit the parliament over a scandal in which he had dinner in Hong Kong with a much younger woman he met on a "sugar daddies" dating website and sent her a series of explicit texts detailing his “completely dishonourable” intentions.

Andrew Broad, a 43-year-old father from the rural-based National party, initially quit his frontbench role but eventually agreed to leave Parliament at the next election after details emerged about his encounter with a woman in her mid-20s, known as “Sophia Rose”.

Mr Broad met the woman online and then began sending her WhatsApp messages, such as:  “I’ve booked a flashy room to seduce you back to.” 

In another message, he said:  “I’m a country boy so I know how to fly a plane, ride a horse, and f--- my woman. My intentions are completely dishonourable.”

After "Sophia Rose"  told him she found Australian accents sexy, he apparently replied: "I pull you close, run my strong hands down your back, softly kiss your neck and whisper 'G'day mate'."

The details emerged in a tabloid magazine, New Idea, which interviewed the woman, who was named only as Amy and is apparently an Irish national. She met with Mr Broad at an expensive Hong Kong restaurant and was apparently unimpressed.

“He was always so forward and cocky,” she told the magazine. “He was so sure of himself… He kept saying that he was very important… He referred to himself as James Bond numerous times.”   

Amy eventually left the restaurant and he sent her a thank you text. She then blocked further messages.

“He gave me his election speech as to why he should be voted in by the public and I stopped listening because he was so arrogant,” she said.

The scandal prompted much chatter on social media, mainly ridiculing Mr Broad’s somewhat overcooked attempts to portray himself as a knockabout Australian bloke. Some suggested that use of the word “g’day” should now be “cancelled”.

“Fifty shades of g'day,” as one tweeter described the saga.

Another wrote: “I pull you close, run my strong hands down your back, softly kiss your neck and whisper ‘Marge... the rains are here’.”

Mr Broad had presented himself as a social conservative and was highly critical when it emerged early last year that his party leader Barnaby Joyce, then the deputy prime minister, had separated from his wife after an affair with an adviser, who was pregnant. 

Quoting American evangelist Billy Graham, who had just died, Mr Broad said at the time: “When character is lost, all is lost."

Announcing his retirement from politics at next year’s election, he said: "After recent media stories about my private life, it is clear that the people of Mallee will be best served in the next parliament by a different Nationals candidate."