Jacqui Lambie targeted in nine-page complaint letter by former chief of staff and office manager

EXCLUSIVE: Senator Jacqui Lambie took staff shopping for “sex toys”, complained about needing “a root” and stumbled over words of more than two syllables according to disgruntled staff.

Senator Jacqui Lambie “parrotted” the lines written by chief of staff Rob Messenger, he claims. Picture: Gary Ramage

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SENATOR Jacqui Lambie took staff shopping for “sex toys” at adult stores, complained about needing “a root” and stumbled over words of more than two syllables when giving speeches, according to disgruntled workers.

The accusations are among a litany of complaints aimed at the Tasmanian crossbench senator by former chief of staff Rob Messenger and his wife Fern, who was Senator Lambie’s office manager until a dramatic split earlier this year.

It is understood the bitter spat between Ms Lambie and the Messengers erupted after the federal election.

A letter of complaint from the couple alleges that Ms Lambie’s staff were “walking on eggshells” due to her “unpredictable” behaviour and “angry mood swings”.

Mr Messenger accuses Ms Lambie of using vulgar and obscene language in the office, describing anyone she disagreed with her as a “c..t arse”.

He wrote: “You see nothing wrong with ... regularly announcing to staff members — including a young male — that you ‘haven’t got laid in a long time’ and you desperately ‘need a root’.”

Rob Messenger speaks to Ms Lambie during a community forum.

Following a highly publicised radio interview in 2014 when Ms Lambie said she was looking for a rich man with a “package between their legs”, Mr Messenger said staff were forced to field an “extraordinary number of abusive phone calls” and were exposed to “extreme abuse or ridicule”.

When contacted, Ms Lambie said: “Because of privacy legislation I am unable to comment about former staff members.”

“You bluntly and succulently (sic) said ‘I would be f---ed’ if we ever left.”

It is understood the bitter spat erupted after the federal election, prompting the Messengers to make an official complaint to the Commonwealth under Public Interest Disclosure laws. Ms Lambie fired back, issuing a legal “show cause” notice to the pair over claims Mr Messenger used a private email address for work purposes and allegations they were trying to monitor or spy on their former boss.

At the time, Ms Lambie — one of the senators who hold the balance of power in the upper house — claimed Mr Messenger, a former Queensland Liberal National Party state MP, left because he did not agree with the “direction” she was taking as a politician.

Fern Messenger and Jacqui Lambie at a gala occasion in Hobart.

In the nine-page complaint letter, Mr Messenger claims he and his wife were the “brains behind the message” and had a “slavish devotion to duty”, working 80-hour weeks to prepare policy and parliamentary contributions, major interviews, election advertisements and newsletters.

He claims Ms Lambie “parroted the lines” he prepared and “dropped in a few umms and ahhhs” to pretend she was answering spontaneously.

He wrote: “Watching the delivery of my speeches live on the Canberra office TV situated above my desk was a time of great excitement and often frustration — because your reading and speaking skills are very poor, causing embarrassment and cringe-worthy mispronunciations — which would spoil the effect of a well-written, reasoned speech and argument.

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“Sometimes during those moments when you stumbled over words with more than two syllables — or misread a speech — I would verbalise my frustration towards the TV monitor at your failure to competently read and pronounce simple words.

“Those private expressions of disappointment are now being used to incorrectly allege that I yelled at or swore at staff.”

Mr Messenger was also keen to claim credit for Ms Lambie’s Senate successes, saying his tactics had resulted in Ms Lambie winning “a fair pay rise” for the ADF, while speeches he wrote for her had convinced senators to launch inquiries into veterans’ suicides, human rights breaches, the ADF “Jedi sex scandal” and the dairy industry.

Senator Lambie with Mr Messenger and her lawyer Glynn Williams before speaking at a press conference in Canberra.

He said Ms Lambie admitted she was “the billboard”, but the Messengers were “the brains behind the message that went on the billboard”.

“In fact, on some occasions ... you bluntly and succulently (sic) said ‘I would be f---ed’ if we ever left,” he wrote.

Mr Messenger also claims in the letter that over the past two years other staff had expressed “serious concerns” about Senator Lambie.

The Messengers were contacted for comment but did not return calls or emails.

STAFF IN FEAR OF IS DEATH THREATS

AN Islamic State supporter made a “credible, unresolved death threat” to staff in Tasmanian Senator Jacqui Lambie’s office which was never taken seriously, her former chief of staff claims.

In a scathing nine-page letter of complaint, Rob Messenger and wife Fern - who worked as Senator Lambie’s office manager - allege staff referred 20 official security threats to Australian Federal Police and “other security agencies” over a two and a half year period.

The pair accuse Senator Lambie and the commonwealth of “failing” to put in place proper security measures despite a series of threats from an IS supporter.

In 2015 Senator Lambie, who has been a vocal critic of Islamic Sharia Law, spoke about a letter she had received containing a beheading threat.

The letter was accompanied by a graphic images of a beheading and the matter was referred to state and federal police.

The staff member that received the letter was offered counselling.

The dispute between Senator Lambie and her former staff could now end up in court with the Messengers vowing to take on the Tasmanian Senator ver her conduct.

“We eagerly look forward to an opportunity of putting our hands on the bible and swearing to tell the truth to an appropriate tribunal of fact or court which is empowered to make a decision on whether illegal conduct and breaches of the Workplace Health and Safety Act has occurred by both you and the Commonwealth Government”.

Originally published as Jacqui Lambie targeted in nine-page complaint letter by former chief of staff and office manager