Jane Garrett digs in over UFU boss bullying complaint

UPDATE: PREMIER Daniel Andrews says it’s up to Jane Garrett to decide whether she lodges a complaint with his department about United Firefighters Union boss Peter Marshall.

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PREMIER Daniel Andrews says it’s up to Jane Garrett to decide whether she lodges a complaint with his department about United Firefighters Union boss Peter Marshall.

Mr Andrews said the former emergency services minister’s complaint about alleged bullying by Mr Marshall should be allowed “to run its course”.

He said it was “entirely a matter” for Ms Garrett to decide whether she asked the Department of Premier and Cabinet to investigate.

“It’s not appropriate for me to say these would be the appropriate avenues, therefore these ones wouldn’t be,” Mr Andrews said.

“That’s a matter for Jane if and when a complaint’s lodged. We should just let that process run - that’s the fair thing for the complainant.”

It comes as Ms Garrett was urged to take allegations of bullying during the CFA dispute directly to Mr Andrews’s department.

On Tuesday Ms Garrett released an explosive statement, saying she planned to lodge a complaint about “distressing conduct” from Mr Marshall during EBA negotiations.

Mr Marshall said the allegations were “without any basis”.

United Firefighter’s Union secretary Peter Marshall outside State Parliament after giving evidence at a bushfire preparedness hearing. Picture: Nicole Garmston

Jane Garrett during question time in State Parliament. Picture: Ellen Smith

One Labor MP said Ms Garrett should consider going to the Department of Premier and Cabinet.

“Jane should probably look at DPC (Department of Premier and Cabinet) because there’s some precedent there for an investigation,” the MP said.

The MP, who did not want to be named, referred to the extensive probe opened by the department and led by former police integrity boss Michael Strong when former small business minister Adem Somyurek was accused of bullying.

Labor brawling over the CFA crisis continued yesterday as many MPs took aim at Ms Garrett for what they said was a failure to play a “team game”. Those claims came after Mr Andrews’s office told MPs Ms Garrett had leaked information to the media.

Some senior ministers have tried to shut down simmering anger within caucus, with Police Minister Lisa Neville saying yesterday Victorians didn’t want to hear about internal squabbles because “it’s not about us”.

But Treasurer Tim Pallas said Ms Garrett should think about resigning if she wasn’t committed to “the cause” — a statement that raised some eyebrows within caucus.

One MP said a growing number of colleagues worried about disunity and “just want the whole thing to stop”.

Premier Daniel Andrews during question time in State Parliament. Picture: Ellen Smith

Opposition Leader Matthew Guy said the government was in chaos and accused Mr Andrews of misleading parliament over a memo his industrial relations adviser, John-Paul Blandthorn, wrote warning Mr Marshall had “crossed the line” from acceptable behaviour.

Mr Andrews said he never received a complaint from staff about Mr Marshall, and the first he learned that one of his staff brokered an arrangement where Mr Marshall didn’t contact Ms Garrett during holidays was on Tuesday.

Ms Garrett said she was “looking into the most appropriate place” to file her complaint, and vowed to stay in parliament. “I love representing my community and I’ve got no plans to go anywhere,” she said.

Former Electrical Trades Union state secretary Dean Mighell, a longtime friend of Mr Marshall and former adviser to the UFU, said he was disappointed the pay dispute had seen Ms Garrett resign from Cabinet and the government in crisis.

He said Mr Marshall “is passionate, and passions sometimes run high”, and that he worked so hard for members that “I have worried about him, no doubt”.

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