An ACT politician has admitted he texted “f--- my job is boring. Wanna swap” during a parliamentary hearing, but denied it was sent to a sex worker.

ACT Opposition Leader Mark Parton had been accused of having a “text message exchange with a sex worker” in a budget estimates hearing late last month, The Canberra Times revealed on Wednesday night.

Parton initially denied the allegation, but after being asked repeatedly at a press conference on Thursday, conceded he had sent the message. He maintained it was not sent to a sex worker, but would not say who the recipient was.

Parton refused to say whether he had frequented sex workers, saying the questions were not in the public interest.

The territory’s Liberal leader claimed the complaint, made anonymously to the parliament’s standards commissioner, was a malicious and politically motivated smear job. He said the commissioner had decided not to investigate further, while he had referred the anonymous complaint to the police.

“There is no investigation and as such, I don’t know, I’m not really sure why there’s so much concern and so much interest in that or in this matter,” he told reporters.

Footage from last week’s hearing shows Parton, who holds the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs portfolio, frequently on his phone. The session was held to discuss consultation with the Ngunnawal community about the redevelopment of Telstra Tower.

Asked whether the message was appropriate for him to be sending while on the clock, he defended his work ethic and said he had recently worked consecutive 80-hour weeks.

“I’m a multitasker from hell,” he said. “I don’t think anyone can question how much time and effort that I’m putting into this job, and I’m happy to be judged on the outcomes that I’m getting.”

Parton, a former radio presenter, said he had an “off-the-cuff, larrikin communication style” and that private conversations should be kept private.

“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 and to be honest, I’m not sure that they’re really anybody’s business other than the sender and the receiver,” he said.

Parton said he had not considered resigning and that he had the backing of his party.

The Canberra Times reported the anonymous complaint said: “Mark should do the right thing and show his text messages with the sex worker to the Chair and Speaker, so that appropriate action can be taken.”

“The sex worker has done nothing wrong whatsoever, and they are much younger and more financially vulnerable than Mark Parton.”

Parton took over the ACT Liberal leadership last year, leading a party that has been in opposition for more than 20 years. Former ACT opposition leader Elizabeth Lee made national headlines after giving a journalist the middle finger during the 2024 election campaign.