“The charges laid against Rory Amon are extremely serious … the alleged conduct strikes at the heart of the standards expected of MPs,” the Liberal leader said.

“While Mr Amon is entitled to the presumption of innocence, a criminal trial will be some time away and in the meantime, the citizens of Pittwater are entitled to have a member of Parliament who can discharge their duties in the community fully.”

Detectives started an investigation in June 2022 after reports of an alleged sexual assault in Mona Vale, which is within Amon’s electorate on Sydney’s northern beaches, five years earlier.

They were told a teenage boy had been sexually assaulted by a man known to him.

A strike force was set up in March 2023, the same month as the state election took place.

Amon was granted police bail with strict conditions and is scheduled to face court for the first time on the charges on September 18.

However, lawyers for the first-term MP fronted Manly Local Court on Friday after lodging an application to have his identity suppressed, a bid they later abandoned.

Amon had been quick to rise in the Liberal Party and was immediately placed in Speakman’s leadership team after his election.

His posts included stints as shadow assistant minister for youth, infrastructure, and transport and roads.

He narrowly scraped over the line to win the northern Sydney seat – long coveted by the Liberals – just beating teal challenger Jacqui Scruby with just over 50% of the two-party preferred vote.

He served as a Northern Beaches councillor between 2017 and 2023 before entering state politics.