The immigration minister, Peter Dutton, has apologised for calling the political editor of the Sunday Telegraph, Samantha Maiden, “a mad fucking witch” in a text message that he accidentally sent to the journalist herself.

Dutton intended to send the text to the ousted former minister Jamie Briggs, News Corp reported.

Briggs last week resigned from the ministry over allegedly inappropriate conduct with a female diplomatic staffer while on official business in Hong Kong.

On Sunday, Maiden reported that Briggs had circulated a photo of himself with the public servant, after declaring he would not reveal her identity in order to protect her privacy.

Dutton admitted sending the offensive message and played down its impacts.

“I apologised to [Maiden] straight away, which she took in good faith,’’ he said in a statement. “Sam and I have exchanged some robust language over the years, so we had a laugh after this. I’m expecting a tough time in her next column.”

Briggs stood down due to his failure to uphold ministerial standards, with the prime minister, Malcolm Turnbull, labelling his indiscretion a “serious matter”.



“As Mr Briggs has noted in his public statement, ministers are expected to uphold high standards of behaviour as set out in the ministerial standards,” Turnbull said in a statement issued on Tuesday. “On this occasion his conduct fell short of that standard. After being invited to reflect on his position, he offered his resignation which I have accepted.”

A spokeswoman for Turnbull said on Monday that the prime minister would not be commenting on the text message issue, but pointed out that the “situations are completely different” between Dutton and Briggs.

Maiden, appearing on the Nine Network on Monday, said the message had been a “solid sledge” but she accepted Dutton’s apology.

“I sent him a text immediately saying ‘you know mate, you’ve sent that mad witch text to the mad witch’ and he was more than happy to apologise right away.”

Maiden said Dutton made the decision to own up, after she chose not to name him when appearing on Sunday television. She said she hoped he won’t end up on the backbench in light of the message mix-up.

“Dutton is a good minister, he’s a hard worker, he’s made a strong contribution to the government,” she said, adding there are more substantive issues in relation to the Briggs affair.

Maiden told the ABC on Monday morning that the matter should not take the focus off the allegations against Briggs.

“He apologised right away and I was more than happy to accept it. I think that there are probably more substantial issues involved here in relation to the disclosure of these photographs and texts involving the confidential complainant that of course allege that Jamie Briggs behaved in a way that certainly made her feel uncomfortable in a Hong Kong bar,” she said.

“I’m glad that Mr Dutton has my number. He has done all the right things apart from texting me a text calling me a mad witch. I’m happy to leave the matter there.”

The immigration minister was a loyal supporter of the former prime minister, Tony Abbott, and offered to resign from the ministry after Turnbull took the reins. Turnbull was urged by Scott Morrison, now the treasurer, to keep Dutton in the immigration portfolio.

Sunday’s text message error was the latest gaffe by the immigration minister.

In September, Dutton shared an awkward open mic moment with Abbott about rising sea levels in the Pacific. The comments were condemned by the leaders of island nations.



Just days earlier, Guardian Australia had revealed that Dutton’s office had twice been asked to review a press release for the border force’s “Operation Fortitude” in Melbourne. The release appeared to threaten random visa checks, and the operation was cancelled following huge community outcry.

In 2010, he defended telling then health minister, Nicola Roxon, to get on her broomstick, at a time when senior female figures in the then Labor government – including prime minister Julia Gillard – faced frequent “witch” comparisons.

telling nicola to get on her broomstick is hardly "grossly unparliamentary" as joolia claimed — Peter Dutton (@PeterDutton_MP) February 11, 2010

Dutton had demanded that the former speaker, Peter Slipper, resign over sexist comments made in private text messages.

“People are very concerned about the conduct of the speaker and these outrageous and shocking texts that appeared in the newspapers over the last 48 hours,” Dutton told reporters in October 2012. “I think it’s now up to Julia Gillard to show some leadership and say what she’s going to do with Mr Slipper.”

Dutton has not indicated whether he will stand down as immigration minister over the Maiden text message incident.

The education minister, Simon Birmingham, said the incident was “unfortunate”, but Dutton recognised his error and immediately contacted the journalist to apologise.

“[He] of course has come out and publicly acknowledged that it was him, to avoid there being a witch-hunt or blame being pointed in other directions,” Birmingham told ABC radio.