James Campbell: You have to wonder what took Greg Hunt so long to apologise
MORE than six months after she first complained to Greg Hunt about his behaviour at their meeting in his office, the mayor of Katherine has finally received her apology. You have to wonder what took so long, writes James Campbell.
James Campbell
Don't miss out on the headlines from James Campbell. Followed categories will be added to My News.
MORE than six months after she first complained to Greg Hunt about his behaviour at their meeting in his office last December, the mayor of Katherine has finally received her apology from the Health Minister. You have to wonder what took so long.
Even after Mayor Fay Miller took the extraordinary step in March of forwarding her correspondence to Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, no action was forthcoming.
F-BOMB MINISTER UNLEASHES TIRADE
Two weeks ago, she wrote to the Prime Minister directly.
Again no response.
It wasn’t until Wednesday that the PM’s office contacted Ms Miller.
Mr Hunt, himself, didn’t pick up the phone to offer his apologies “for any language which may have caused offence” until after the Herald Sun had sent questions to his office about the meeting.
By then it must have been clear that this 71-year-old grandmother and former Northern Territory minister — in the Country Liberal Party — wasn’t going to let the matter drop.
PDF: READ THE LETTERS FROM FAY MILLER TO GREG HUNT
Perhaps this sort of thing happens all the time, but it certainly doesn’t fill you with confidence.
It’s also a bit of a worry that it would appear that there was nobody opening the mail in Mr Turnbull’s office who was capable of realising this might be a bit of a problem if Ms Miller decided to make her complaint public.
Who knows, perhaps Mr Turnbull’s mailbag is chock-a-block with correspondence from municipal leaders around Australia complaining that his ministers pointed aggressively at them and told them to “f-----g get over it”.
The Prime Minister’s statement of ministerial standards — updated in the post-Barnaby Joyce era — says that the “public has high expectations of them in terms of their personal conduct and decorum”.
Surely, this can’t be what he had in mind?
When asked to comment on the matter, the PM’s office said they “declined to comment on private matters”.
Leaving aside the fact this rule didn’t seem to apply when Mr Turnbull was paying out Mr Joyce, to claim this doesn’t go to Mr Hunt’s behaviour as a minister is absurd.
This was a meeting of the Health Minister of Australia with an elected local official in the presence of officials.
It couldn’t have been less private if it had been broadcast on Sky News.
MORE JAMES CAMPBELL:
DREYFUS PLAYING RISKY GAME ON CHINA
HANSON’S TAX BLOCK HAS DONE PM FAVOUR
Why Andrews could be preempting own political demise
By reiterating that the buck stops with him, is Premier Daniel Andrews giving himself a reason to go? That may be the case if the hotel quarantine inquiry ends up slamming the government, writes James Campbell.
Victoria’s maddening armchair ride under Dan
The Andrews’ government keeps making decisions everyday Victorians know are madness. Coronavirus positive patients allowed to exercise, guests leaving quarantine without testing. How long can this go on, asks James Campbell.