Like clockwork, the story of Lucy Wicks' private allegation of misconduct against her former partner and Liberal colleague Taylor Martin has descended into another painfully public scandal.
I first became aware of allegations involving Mr Martin and Ms Wicks on May 26 when a party insider aired them during a phone call.
The caller said Mr Martin would not be in Parliament within two months and other party members were already positioning themselves to replace him.
Mr Martin denied the allegations the same day and told me he would be absent from Parliament for six days in June because his new fiancee had booked them a holiday.
I put the allegations to a NSW Liberal Party spokesperson and was told: "If he says he's going on a holiday with his partner, happy to believe him, unless someone's provided some evidence to the contrary."
The spokesperson said at the time that the party had not received an allegation of misconduct against Mr Martin.
"But obviously we don't discuss those things on the record because, as you know, if we start to discuss complaints on the record, then that may dissuade some people from bringing them forward."
Other media outlets contacted the party hierarchy in June with the same questions, but Ms Wicks filed a formal written complaint only in recent days.
The Daily Telegraph reported on Saturday that the party had appointed a senior counsel to investigate a complaint over a series of allegedly abusive text messages sent by a Liberal MP.
Mr Martin, who entered into a relationship with Ms Wicks after joining her staff as a 24-year-old, admitted on Sunday to being one of the people involved, saying there were "two sides to every story".
Later the same day he issued an apology, admitting he regretted "heated words during my attempts to go separate ways that I sincerely regret".
"It was an ugly and undignified parting of ways," he said.
"If I could undo any hurt that has been caused, I would do it in a heartbeat.
"I am so sorry and apologise unreservedly to everyone that has been caught up in it. I truly welcome the process that the party has commenced and I intend to fully cooperate."
At this point Ms Wicks had not been named, but someone in the party had clearly leaked details of the allegations to the media.
Ms Wicks, who lost her federal seat in 2022, was then forced into a public plea for privacy after 2GB broadcaster Ben Fordham named her as the complainant on Monday morning.
She wrote on Facebook that she had received hundreds of "demeaning, degrading, and abusive" text messages over five years and been "physically threatened".
Ms Wicks said she was "beyond distressed" to have been outed publicly.
This is not the first time 32-year-old Mr Martin has been embroiled in controversy.
In 2018, the federal Liberal party's vice-president, Teena McQueen, complained to state director Chris Stone that Mr Martin had called her a "spoilt f---ing bitch" and said: "I'll get you, you f---ing wait."
Mr Martin denied the allegations and an earlier accusation that he had called a colleague a "Nazi" during a bitter pre-selection battle in 2017.
It is unclear if his weekend apology refers to all of the allegations in Ms Wicks' complaint, and it remains to be seen what the Liberal party investigation uncovers.
Ms Wicks' Facebook statement referred to her concerns about "behaviour in the workplace, in the party and in political interactions", which raises the spectre of her complaint going beyond her interactions with Mr Martin.
A party source said it was highly unlikely the investigation would be completed by the time NSW Parliament resumes sitting on August 1.
Liberal HQ says it has been at pains to maintain the confidentiality of all those involved, but that has not prevented their identities being revealed.
Unlike Brittany Higgins, Ms Wicks did not choose to name herself as the complainant, and the question for 2GB is why it decided to name her when other media outlets had respected her right to privacy.
