‘Bullying is intolerable, no matter who you are’

Queensland Labor minister Leeanne Enoch has slammed all forms of bullying as unacceptable and intolerable no matter “what title you might have,” after revelations her state MP colleague Jim Madden is under internal ALP investigation for workplace bullying.

Queensland Labor minister Leeanne Enoch has slammed all forms of bullying as unacceptable and intolerable, no matter “what title you might have”, after rev­elations her state MP colleague Jim Madden was under internal ALP investigation for workplace bullying.

The Weekend Australian on Saturday revealed that the Ipswich West backbench MP had been under investigation for months after a formal bullying and harassment complaint was lodged with Queensland Labor by a former electorate office staffer in March.

ALP complaints manager Rach­el Drew, a workplace law specialist and partner at Labor law firm Holding Redlich, engaged Brisbane barrister Kylie Hillard to conduct the investigation. The report and recommendations will be handed to ALP state secretary Kate Flanders, who will make a decision on Mr Madden’s future.

Jim Madden, Ipswich West MP, in Queensland parliament. Photographer: Liam Kidston.

Ms Enoch, Queensland’s Housing Minister, said while she was unaware of the details of Mr Madden’s case, she was bullied as a child and at work in the 1980s and ’90s and that type of behaviour was not tolerated.

“Certainly it doesn’t matter where you work, who you are, what job you might have, what title you might have, bullying is just not acceptable, not in this day and age, not ever,” Ms Enoch said.

“I’ll let that (ALP) investigation do what it needs to do, but I don’t condone bullying. I’ve been the subject of bullying as a kid (and) I’ve felt that in some workplaces in the early ’80s and ’90s.

“These days, we don’t tolerate it, nor should we.”

Before entering parliament in 2015, Ms Enoch was a high school teacher in Queensland and East London, Brisbane City Council Indigenous policy manager, a ­senior bureaucrat with the Queensland Department of Com­mun­ities, and Australian Red Cross national manager of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Partnerships.

Minister for Communities and Housing Leeanne Enoch speaks to the journalists at a social housing announcement in Brisbane. Picture: Lachie Millard

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has refused to say whether she backed Mr Madden remaining in caucus. A government spokesman instead directed questions to the Speaker of parliament, Labor MP Curtis Pitt.

LNP Opposition Leader David Crisafulli said Mr Madden should be expelled from Labor if the allegations were proven.

“It goes to a standard that the leader of the government is willing to accept, and bullying should not be tolerated, not just in words, but in actions as well,” he said.

Mr Crisafulli criticised Ms Palas­zczuk and Labor state secretary Ms Flanders for not answering questions about the investigation. “It seems very, very strange why Labor would be running an investigation but refusing to answer questions,” he said.

“This goes to the heart of a lack of transparency. On the broader issue, I do wish the Labor Party was as interested in the community of Ipswich as they are about the preselection process that’s underway there at the moment.”

Leader of the Opposition David Crisafulli bowls to Shadow Treasurer David Janetzki in the nets at Western Suburbs District Cricket Club in Graceville. Picture Lachie Millard

Labor holds most of the state seats around Ipswich, including Ipswich West, where Mr Madden has a margin of 14.3 per cent. It is extremely rare for a sitting Queensland Labor MP to be challenged for preselection.

The preselection process will start closer to the next election in October next year.

Mr Madden is facing the threat of forced resignation to meet the ALP’s gender quota rules, which require women to be preselected in 45 per cent of seats held by the party. Caucus is 40 per cent women, meaning at least three male MPs will need to quit before the next election to hit the target.