The government staffer who sent an expletive-laden text message to a female journalist, calling her a "feminist cunt" and a "bitch", will not be fired.
The Nationals staffer sent the text to News Corp reporter Annika Smethurst last Sunday night, accusing her of being an "unethical journalist" after she published a story which said his boss, Queensland senator Barry O’Sullivan, lost his preselection as part of an "uprising by regional women".
"Let her come to my home... slap her on her bitch face," one of the messages read.
O'Sullivan last month told Parliament he is declaring his gender "to be a woman", so left-wing politicians will stop attacking him over his anti-abortion views.
Nationals leader Michael McCormack said the staffer had apologised to Smethurst and that the message was actually intended "for a friend".
"The text was very inappropriate in any circumstances in any context," McCormack told Channel Nine's Today.
"But the fact is it was sent to the wrong person."
McCormack said the texts were sent from the staffer's "personally-funded phone" and that he will engage in "additional counselling" over the incident.
The staffer's text also said he hoped the recipient's family died from "painful cancer".
Thanks to everyone who has sent messages of support. I’m on annual leave this week so can’t respond to you all. I never wanted to be the story but that language is unacceptable, to anyone. To clarify, I recieved an apology on Friday night, five days after the offensive texts
Smethurst tweeted on Monday that she never wanted to become the story, but that the staffer's language was "unacceptable".
She said she received an apology five days after the "offensive texts".