Coalition MPs ordered to apologise after parliament worker injured in stampede

Seven Coalition MPs have been ordered to apologise after pushing past a Parliament House worker and injuring her while trying to rush out of the room.

Seven Coalition MPs have been forced to apologise following an incident that injured a parliamentary staff member.

Dan Tehan, Ted O’Brien, Angus Taylor, Zoe McKenzie, Llew O’Brien, Andrew Hastie and Sam Birrell all lined up to say sorry to the House after a dressing down from Speaker Milton Dick.

Mr Dick issued a scathing statement in parliament on Wednesday, telling the lower house he was “disgusted” by the MPs’ conduct and asking them to apologise.

The incident occurred on Tuesday evening when the MPs in question tried to rush out of the chamber during a division.

The group tried to leave after Mr Dick directed attendants to lock the doors of the lower house to allow a vote to take place.

Several Coalition MPs have been forced to apologise after they were involved in an incident that injured a parliamentary staff member.

Clips of the incident from yesterday, where Coalition members pushed their way our of the House of Reps after the speaker called for the doors to be locked (with about 6 minutes of inconsequential division time cut from the middle). pic.twitter.com/zfmEB3JRa0

— Michael Mazengarb (@MichaelM_ACT) March 28, 2023

The worker was knocked against a door and injured her arm as some of these MPs pushed past

Mr Dick said on Wednesday morning he would not tolerate this sort of behaviour, which was not in line with the bipartisan commitment to improving workplace culture in parliament following the 2021 Set the Standard Report.

“For a staff member of this place to be treated this way for simply doing their job is disrespectful,” he said.

“We all know members are busy, however I’m sure we’ll all agree that no member’s time is more important than a staff member’s safety.”

Mr Dick said he would be writing to all MPs to remind them of their obligations to treat parliament and its staff with the respect the “Australian people expect” from them.

Each MP in the group who had rushed out – which included frontbenchers and former Coalition ministers – stood up in the House to say sorry.

Mr Tehan told parliament he had left the chamber as the Speaker was ordering the doors to be closed and apologised for his conduct.

Later on Wednesday, the Wannon MP wanted to clear his name, telling NCA NewsWire that he hadn’t been involved in the “physical altercation” that left the attendant injured.

Speaker Milton Dick ordered the MPs involved to apologise. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Gary Ramage

Leader of the House Tony Burke asked the Speaker to review the footage of the rush after it occurred on Tuesday evening.

“I am not in a position to name individual members of parliament,” Mr Burke said at the time.

“But we as a House cannot be in a situation — out of respect for the staff who work in this building — where, when you ask people to lock the doors, they have members of parliament physically pushing past them to get out of the room.”

Mr Dick said a parliamentary staff member also filed an incident report.

The stampede took place during the second reading of the government’s legislation to reform income management for some welfare recipients after it abolished the cashless debit card.

The Bill sailed through the lower house, where Labor holds a majority.

Additional reporting: Courtney Gould

Originally published as Coalition MPs ordered to apologise after parliament worker injured in stampede