NSW minister quits after lover tells all

The Australian Labor Party has been rocked by a number of sexual scandals in recent years. Photo / Supplied

Already burdened with a surplus of scandal and an economy in decline, New South Wales has been rocked further by the resignation of a senior minister and Labor powerbroker caught by an affair with a 26-year-old woman.

John Della Bosca, 53, until late on Tuesday night state Health Minister and Government leader in the Legislative Council, quit after Sydney's Daily Telegraph approached him with a list of allegations by the woman.

The allegations were backed by text messages and tawdry details of sexual encounters, including claims Della Bosca had bypassed security to have sex on his office couch, and had missed official functions to spend time with his lover.

The woman told the Telegraph the affair had ended only when it became clear that Della Bosca had no intention of keeping his promise to leave his wife, federal MP Belinda Neal.

Della Bosca fronted the media yesterday, saying: "I've taken my medicine. You have to live up to the consequences of bad decisions."

His resignation is both blessing and curse for embattled Premier Nathan Rees, who last year inherited a state mired in economic morass and a Government in what increasingly appears to be terminal decline.

While another scandal was the last thing Rees needed, it has at least rid him of a persistent plotter determined to displace him as state Labor leader, regardless of public protestations to the contrary. Last week, Della Bosca was again named as one of three rivals for the crown.

Yesterday Rees said he had accepted Della Bosca's resignation because he had had caused the Government gross embarrassment, but added: "I would rather this had not happened."

Della Bosca's downfall began at the NSW Art Gallery during an Archibald Prize exhibition when he met the woman, asked for her telephone number, and called the following day.

The woman told the Telegraph their affair began in earnest in March, when they had sex in a Sydney hotel after a drinking session in Newtown.

"He told me quite early that 'I'm falling in love with you'," she said. "I fell in love with him. You can't really explain attraction. I thought he was a spunk. He has the most beautiful eyes and beautiful smile."

The woman claimed Della Bosca had stopped a security guard from checking her identity on their way to have sex in his office, had bragged about the affair to an Upper House colleague who had subsequently offered her a job, and had ducked a flight to northern NSW for a hospital opening and meeting with health officials to spend the time with her.

She also confirmed Della Bosca's leadership ambitions, saying he had described Rees as a "freckle-faced Latham" - a reference to erratic former federal Labor leader Mark Latham - and had the support in caucus to challenge him.

At one stage, "drunk as a skunk", Della Bosca had told her: "I'm going to be the next premier ... everyone's going to vote for me."

The woman said she broke off the affair last month because of his failure to leave Neal and told him: "Come back when you're single."

Della Bosca denied avoiding security and dereliction of duties.

"At no time did I breach my duties as a minister or member of Parliament," he said. "I think all of you know that I am a diligent minister. I worked very hard."

But it is not the first time Della Bosca has brought grief to his Government. He lost his driving licence last year after being caught speeding for the seventh time in a Government car, was forced to publicly apologise for obscenely abusing a cameraman photographing him on a bicycle, and stood down as Education Minister after a night out turned into a public relations disaster for both state and federal Labor.

Neal was alleged to have abused staff at a restaurant called Iguana's and threatened their jobs, allegedly yelling: "Don't you know who I am?" Della Bosca was caught lying to former Premier Morris Iemma over the authorship of an apology from the restaurant manager - which he had in fact written himself.

Federal and state police investigations failed to find enough evidence for a successful case, Neal returned to Canberra after an angry reprimand from Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, and Della Bosca returned as Health Minister after Rees ousted Iemma.

LABOR'S SHAME
* New South Wales Labor MP Joe Tripodi denied sexual assault at a party in the NSW Parliament in 2000.
* A female town planner at the Wollongong City Council was involved in sexual relationships with three developers, a corruption inquiry was told in 2008.
* Milton Orkopoulos, a former state Labor minister, was found guilty in 2008 of offering teenage boys cash and drugs and having sex with them in his office.
* Just days into a new job as police minister in 2008, Matt Brown was sacked after admitting he had a party in his office in which he allegedly danced on a sofa in his underpants and simulated a sex act on a female MP.