Still no emails in standoff over ‘b*tch on a witch hunt’ saga

Emails that promise to shed light on the workplace relationship between the Public Service boss and the Integrity Commissioner after the ‘b*tch on a witch hunt’ revelations are still yet to be made public.

Emails that shed light on the workplace relationship between the Integrity Commissioner and Public Service boss Rob Setter still have not been released, days after Mr Setter saying he was happy to do so.

Mr Setter said on Tuesday he was “happy to release emails” between himself and Nikola Stepanov that discussed a request by Dr Stepanov last year for mediation that never occurred.

His spokesman said on Friday the emails could not be released without Dr Stepanov’s express, written approval.

But Dr Stepanov questioned why he had made the offer without seeking it, and said the decision to release them remained Mr Setter’s.

Public Service Commissioner Robert Setter. Picture: Liam Kidston

More details of the senior officials’ troubled relationship exploded into the public domain this week when Dr Stepanov told a parliamentary committee Mr Setter called her a “b*tch on a witch hunt” during a 2018 phone call.

Mr Setter denied the claim and stated his own long-running concerns “about allegations raised regarding the psychological safety of some staff” in her office.

It is understood the March 2021 emails raise the mediation request, resourcing issues within the Integrity Commissioner’s office after her staff were reduced to one by the PSC, and training that had not been completed.

The emails would provide a greater insight into the state of their relationship a week before a sensitive laptop was taken from her office without notice by the PSC and wiped.

Integrity Commissioner Dr Nikola Stepanov. Picture: Liam Kidston

Dr Stepanov had unsuccessfully asked the PSC to authorise a forensic examination of it.

A statement on Friday said the PSC needed Dr Stepanov’s agreement to release the emails and had not received it.

Dr Stepanov said she had been made aware of the offer.

“Mr Setter did not communicate with me in any way before making his statement about releasing emails,” she said. “My consistent response has been that it is entirely a matter for Mr Setter as to whether or not he chooses to release the emails.”