David Campbell (Australian politician)

On 20 May 2010, Seven News broadcast video surveillance revealing Campbell leaving a gay sex club in Kensington.[10] Shortly before the footage was aired, Campbell resigned as minister for Transport and Roads citing personal reasons and said that he would remain as the Member for Keira.[5][11]

The journalist who broke the story, Adam Walters, defended airing the footage, saying it was in the "public interest".[12] Walters was supported by former Labor Premier Barrie Unsworth, who described Campbell's actions as "deplorable."[13] Mr Unsworth told The Australian newspaper "Campbell has been the police minister and he's been on the NSW Crime Commission, and he's frequented places where he's easily recognised. The threat is not from Channel 7 lurking outside but by the people inside. We've got a criminal milieu in this city and he laid himself open to all sorts of threats and blackmail." Another former Labor Premier Bob Carr defended Campbell.[14] "My position has always been that the private life of MPs is precisely that," Mr Carr said. Others, including the former High Court justice Michael Kirby, criticised Walters and Seven, with Kirby describing Seven News as "serial homophobes" for their coverage of the story.[15]

On 28 September 2010, Campbell announced that he would not seek Labor Party endorsement, nor re-election, for the seat of Keira at the 2011 general election.[2][3][16] It was reported that Campbell claimed he had strong support from the Labor Party and was confident he would have been endorsed for his seat should he have decided to contest the election.[16] Campbell retired after serving 24 years as an elected representative in local and state politics.