Barnaby Joyce said he ‘hoped and prayed’ for news of Michael Johnsen, a former state MP whom police said was last seen in Tamworth on Friday.
Barnaby Joyce said he ‘hoped and prayed’ for news of Michael Johnsen, a former state MP whom police said was last seen in Tamworth on Friday.
- Breaking
- Politics
- NSW
- State Parliament
By Michael McGowan
February 23, 2025 — 1.51pm
Police have issued a plea to help find a former NSW Nationals MP, saying they hold concerns for his welfare after he was last seen leaving his home in Tamworth on Friday.
The disappearance of Michael Johnsen, former MP for the Upper Hunter, has sparked a flurry of concern from fellow Nationals figures including Barnaby Joyce and his wife, Vikki Campion. The latter wrote on social media that she was “worried sick” about Johnsen.
“If anyone is near Barrington Tops and sees a dark grey Kluger, please report. We are worried sick,” she said.
Joyce said he had been in contact with police and the local state member, fellow Nationals MP Dave Layzell, and held grave concerns about Johnsen’s well-being.
“This is a huge shock – I hope and pray for a good resolution but hold grave concerns,” Joyce said.
In the early hours of Sunday morning the Oxley Police District issued a statement seeking “the assistance of the community” in locating the former MP.
He was last seen leaving his home in West Tamworth on Friday and police held “concerns for the safety and welfare” of Johnsen.
Johnsen was the MP for the seat from 2015 to 2021. He resigned in scandal over allegations he raped a sex worker in the Blue Mountains in 2021, and reports he “sexted” the same woman during parliament question time and sent her a video of himself performing a lewd act.
The 60-year-old denied the rape allegations and later said he had been “vindicated” after the NSW Department of Public Prosecutions recommended there was “insufficient admissible evidence to proceed with charges”.
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After leaving parliament, he opened a government consulting business, and ran a series of restaurants in the Muswellbrook and Tamworth areas. Johnsen was known to visit the Barrington Tops, a national park about two-hours north of Newcastle, and friends were hopeful he may have gone camping in the area.
Layzell, who won the seat in a by-election following Johnsen’s resignation, said he was “I certainly hope they find him well. He’s had a tough few years. I can only hope he’s OK,” he said.
Johnsen resigned from parliament with a “heavy heart” after a Labor MP, Trish Doyle, used parliamentary privilege to claim a “government MP” had been accused of raping a sex worker at a secluded lookout in her electorate of the Blue Mountains.
Within hours, Johnsen had issued a statement revealing he was the MP at the centre of the allegations but vehemently denied them. He was never charged.
He was removed from the Nationals and Coalition party rooms, and suspended from the National Party. He resigned from parliament a week after the allegations were first raised following the publication of a series of text messages showing he offered to pay a sex worker to have sex in NSW Parliament and sent the woman a string of lewd text messages and an obscene video while Parliament was sitting.
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Michael McGowan is a state political reporter for The Sydney Morning HeraldConnect via email.
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