‘Just don’t go into detail’: Christian Porter complaint fades to grey area

A departmental officer in former attorney-general Christian’s Porter new portfolio has filed a complaint about working with him.

“Just don’t go into detail.”

That was the message from Department of Industry deputy secretary Luise McCulloch to another departmental official on Thursday as Labor quizzed them on a complaint against former attorney-general Christian Porter.

Unfortunately for Ms McCulloch and the department’s chief operating officer, Kylie Bryant, who was fielding questions from Labor senator Murray Watt, the microphone was too near. Her directive was broadcast to the room.

Senator Watt had been following up on a query from earlier in the day when it was disclosed one member of staff in Mr Porter’s new department had expressed “discomfort or an unwillingness” to meet with him since he started.

“There’s been one issue raised to that effect,” Industry secretary David Fredericks had said. “We have to be careful of confidentiality and personal issues.”

Ms McCulloch also confirmed the complaint, reiterating the importance of confidentiality.

“We’re aware of one complaint, one issue, which we dealt with through our normal workplace safety policies and support for staff. Only one.”

The complaint, made a number of weeks ago, was brought to official attention just days after Mr Porter withdrew a defamation case against the ABC over its reporting of historic sexual assault allegations against him, which he strongly denies.

Mr Porter, Senate estimates heard, was not made aware of the complaint from the Industry Department bureaucrat. Ms Bryant had only made a single phone call to his chief of staff, to supply her with “sufficient” knowledge.

Ms Bryant said as chief operating officer, the people branch was handled within her division.

Asked by Senator Watt why no other agency, including the Public Service Commissioner, was notified, Ms Bryant said: “The nature of the complaint did not warrant that level of engagement.”

Ms Bryant said she and the complainant consider the matter resolved. “There’s no ongoing action in regards to the complaint,” she added.

Asked whether the complainant would be excused from contact with the Industry Minister, Ms Bryant did not know.

Earlier, asked if Mr Porter and the bureaucrat had contact, Mr Fredericks – who said he had not experienced such a complaint in his 10-year public service career – said: “Quite rarely, if at all.”

“Ms Bryant and myself are in a difficult position here because we’re respecting privacy but we’re trying to send a signal by saying that the nature and the seriousness of the complaint was such that all the actions that we took, that to you, to be fair to you, might seem modest but in my long experience and judgment, entirely appropriate,” Mr Fredericks said.

Mr Porter was sworn in as Minister of Industry, Science and Technology on March 30, after a cabinet reshuffle promoted Michaelia Cash to Attorney-General. Mr Porter was at the time engaged in litigation against the ABC, and the government had requested advice about whether there were any conflicts of interest.

While the exact date of the complaint is not known, Ms Bryant said, “I wouldn’t say it was very close to when he was appointed”.

A spokesman for Mr Porter on Thursday said complaints from departmental staff were a matter for the department.