The NSW Premier is sticking by an MP who leaked explicit photos of a rival politician in 2018. 

Five years ago, Liberal MP Peter Poulos leaked intimate Penthouse modelling photos from the 1980s of a woman with whom he was locked in a preselection battle for the seat of Hawkesbury, the Daily Telegraph reports.

It is alleged that Mr Poulos - who was working as a political staffer at the time - sent an email to another Liberal member with the subject “Treasurer’s Pet” and his party-mate’s modelling images.

The photos were reportedly sent to fellow Liberal party members before the woman was endorsed as the Liberal candidate. She went on to win the upper house seat at the 2019 election.

Mr Poulos has been a member of the New South Wales Legislative Council since May 2021, when he was appointed to replace John Ajaka.

In NSW, distributing explicit images of another person can carry sentences of up to three years’ jail and a fine of $11,000.

The scandal has unfolded amid the campaign for the upcoming NSW election.

Following the revelations, NSW independent MP Zali Steggall called on Mr Poulos to resign.

“How is this man not immediately required to resign,” she said in a post on social media, tagging the NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet and Treasurer Matt Kean.

NSW Labor upper house leader Penny Sharpe said Mr Poulos’s behaviour should “not be tolerated”.

“If the question is whether he’s sharing inappropriate images of a female member of parliament, of course that’s inappropriate,” she told reporters.

NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet described Mr Poulos’s actions as “incredibly inappropriate”, but “people make mistakes”.

“No one is perfect. I’ve made a number of mistakes in life,” he said.

“The main thing is when you do, you stand up, you take responsibility for it, you apologise.

“I spoke to Peter actually over the course of the weekend to remind him of his responsibilities and my highest expectation.”

The female subject of the photos has described Mr Poulos as a “great mate”.

“Peter rang me and personally apologised and he was very remorseful,” she said.

“We have been in the party and we have a great following as friends we support each other along the way in our journey in politics.”