NSW Ports and Waterways Minister Paul McLeay has resigned from the frontbench after using a parliamentary computer to visit gambling and adult websites, Premier Kristina Keneally has announced.
"This morning the member advised me that he had used a computer supplied by the parliament to visit gambling and adult sites," Ms Keneally told NSW parliament today.
"I made clear to the member that I expect ministers to use the resources of office appropriately and that this behaviour is not the standard I expect of a minister."
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Ms Keneally said she had asked Mr McLeay to resign from the frontbench.
"Some people may choose to undertake similar activities in their personal lives but I cannot condone the use of parliamentary resources by a minister in this way," she said.
"I am sorry for this situation to have occurred. I will not condone it, and I will continue to make clear that I expect the highest integrity from minister."
Mr McLeay is also Minister for Mineral and Forest Resources and for the Illawarra.
Ms Keneally said the ministerial vacancies would be filled shortly.
Mr McLeay, the member for Heathcote in Sydney's south, was elected to parliament in 2003.
He was elevated to the ministry by Ms Keneally in November last year, when he was given the Ports and Waterways portfolio by former premier Nathan Rees.
The latest scandal to beset the NSW government comes just a week after Ms Keneally lashed out at Labor MPs for repeated bad behaviour.
Responding to a damning Newspoll result for her government, Ms Keneally said she was "frustrated" by the repeated scandals she's had to deal with.
Giving a frank assessment of her government's performance, Ms Keneally said ill-discipline was "destroying people's confidence and trust" in state Labor.
She cited the examples of former Labor MP Karyn Paluzzano and minister Ian Macdonald, both of whom quit parliament in the wake of corruption allegations.
"The community will not, and should not be expected to, accept ill-disciplined behaviour from members of parliament," Ms Keneally told reporters last week.
"If that sort of ill-discipline continues, the blunt reality is that we will lose the election.
