Labor wants answers over Howlett’s resignation
Questions continue to be thrown at the government regarding a “perceived conflict of interest” when resigned Minister Jane Howlett held the state’s sports portfolio. LATEST >>
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QUESTIONS about the a minister's potential conflict of interest went to the heart of integrity of government, Labor leader Rebecca White says.
Ms Howlett stepped down as Minister for Racing, Minister for Women, Minister for Small Business, Minister for Hospitality and Events and Minister for Disability Services on Friday, citing personal reasons following the death of her brother.
The Mercury first raised questions with the government in early February about whether Ms Howlett had a conflict of interest in her role as Minister for Sport and Recreation due to her close personal relationship with JackJumpers CEO Simon Brookhouse.
Neither Ms Howlett nor Mr Brookhouse have commented publicly. The government has denied any conflict of interest existed.
She was replaced in Sports and Recreation role by backbencher Nic Street in a ministerial reshuffle a week later following the departure of Sarah Courtney.
The Liberal government provided $80m for the refurbishment of the team’s home venue and remains its major sponsor.
Ms White said the issue wasn’t going away.
“Peter Gutwein has a situation where he has seen a Minister he’s called ‘the best sports Minister in Tasmania’s history’ relieved of all of her portfolios,” she said.
“Surely if she needed some time off, she could have done that without also quitting from her portfolios. It does raise serious questions about why that has happened.
“What we do know is that just days after questions were raised with the Premier’s office about a perceived conflict of interest Jane Howlett was shuffled out of a sports portfolio and then a week later, all of her portfolios entirely.
“There are questions that remain unanswered about a perceived conflict of interest that exists here and when the Premier knew and what he did about it.
“This is critically important to understand because it goes to the heart of integrity in government.
“And if the premier knew about this, and he did nothing, then that calls into question his integrity.”
Mr Gutwein said there had been no wrongdoing.
“Labor have nothing better to do than muckrake,” he said.
Ms White said the government would struggle to find someone with the ability to take on Ms Howlett’s portfolios.
“The fact is, he’s got so few people to call on that whoever steps into the breach left by Jane Howlett is going to be someone who arguably doesn’t have the experience,” she said.
Premier says Howlett had no conflict of interest – February 26
Words by Rob Inglis
Premier Peter Gutwein says he is “absolutely” confident that former Sport Minister Jane Howlett did not have a conflict of interest when she served in the position, following questions over her perceived personal relationship with the chief executive of the Tasmania JackJumpers.
Ms Howlett resigned from her Cabinet roles on Friday, citing personal reasons after the death of her brother. She will continue on as the member for Prosser but will take two weeks’ leave.
Her decision to quit the ministry came after a Cabinet reshuffle last Thursday in which she was removed from the Sport portfolio and given responsibility for Hospitality and Events and Disability Services, in addition to her existing portfolios of Small Business and Women.
The reshuffle occurred as rumours circulated about a possible conflict of interest due to Ms Howlett’s perceived personal relationship with the CEO of the Tasmania JackJumpers NBL team, Simon Brookhouse.
Speaking in Launceston on Saturday, Mr Gutwein said he had a discussion with Ms Howlett after questions were raised with his office.
“I spoke to Ms Howlett after these matters were raised with my office by the media and Ms Howlett indicated there was no truth to the rumours, that there was no conflict of interest,” he said. “I cannot be clearer than that.”
Ms Howlett was the Sport and Recreation Minister between January 2020 and February 2022. In that time, the state government provided $68.5m for the redevelopment of the Derwent Entertainment Centre in the 2020-21 Budget, under the Sport and Recreation portfolio, and $11.6m to support the establishment of the JackJumpers, who are currently playing their first season in the NBL.
But the Premier said the “contracts that were put in place” were agreed on under former premier Will Hodgman and later “dealt with” by Mr Gutwein himself.
When questioned why Ms Howlett had been moved out of the Sport portfolio a week before she resigned from Cabinet, Mr Gutwein said the new Minister, Nic Street, was “ideally placed” to fill the role because he had formerly been an adviser to a previous sport Minister.
Labor sport spokesman Josh Willie, however, said it was strange that the Premier had moved Ms Howlett out of the portfolio when he had described her as the best Sport Minister in Tasmania’s history.
“We’re talking about a lot of taxpayers’ money,” he said. “We have seen significant investment in this sport (basketball).”
“The Premier needs to answer these questions and he needs to be transparent.”
‘What a s**t show’: Two Ministers gone in two weeks
Words by Rob Inglis and Jack Evans
Tasmanian Racing Minister Jane Howlett has resigned in what is the second Cabinet departure for the Gutwein government in the space of just two weeks.
Ms Howlett, who was the Sport Minister until a Cabinet reshuffle last Thursday, is resigning due to the death of her brother, which occurred that night.
She is also the Minister for Women, Small Business, Hospitality and Events, and Disability Services.
The second ministerial resignation in as many weeks sparked questions from the opposition with Greens leader Cassy O’Connor blasting the Government’s apparent instability.
“What a shit show,” Ms O’Connor said.
“This is not a strong, stable, majority Liberal government. This is a government in disarray when it is needed to be most functional.”
Ms O’Connor accused the government of being too busy with “internal problems” rather than dealing with omicron’s spread through Tasmania’s community and schools.
“Who will be Minister Howlett’s replacement?” she asked.
“They’re really scraping the bottom of the barrel now.”
Ms O’Connor said she had “enormous sympathy” for Ms Howlett in the wake of her brother’s passing.
Labor Leader Rebecca White said the departure highlighted the premier’s struggle to maintain control of his government.
“Just two weeks ago, the Education Minister Sarah Courtney quit, following her holiday to France in the lead-up to school returning in the midst of Covid,” Ms White said.
“Now, we have the Minister for Racing, Small Business, Women, Hospitality and Events and Disability Services quitting, and a government that appears to be imploding.”
“To lose a second Minister within two weeks, forcing yet another reshuffle, shows a government in chaos.
Ms White there were questions about an alleged “conflict of interest” in her former role as a Sports Minister that needed to be probed.
“We can only take on face value the reasons for the resignation today, but there are questions about whether there was a conflict of interest in her former role as a Sports Minister and the premier should investigate that,” she said.
The Prosser MLC will take a few weeks off but remain in parliament.
Her replacement will be decided in the coming days.
Ms Howlett’s exit comes after former education Minister Sarah Courtney quit parliament on February 9, prompting a ministerial reshuffle.
Mr Gutwein said the sole reason for Ms Howlett’s resignation from Cabinet was the death of her brother.
“Let me be clear about that,” he said.
Jane Howlett’s statement
Yesterday afternoon, I spoke to the Premier and tendered my resignation from the Cabinet.
This was an incredibly difficult decision to make, but the correct one for my family and myself, following the loss of my dear brother last week.
I am proud of my record as Minister and I would like to thank the Premier for the opportunity to serve in his Cabinet, and to my colleagues, staff, stakeholders and the Liberal Party – I thank them for their friendship and encouragement.
Above all, I would like to thank my family for their support. This has been a very challenging time and now it is time for me to return that support to them.
Being a Minister is an incredible honour and privilege which deserves and requires a 100 per cent commitment which I simply cannot provide at this time.
I intend to remain in parliament serving the people of the electorate of Prosser as a backbench member of the Gutwein Liberal Government.
Who is Jane Howlett?
For more than a decade, Jane Howlett was known as a serial candidate.
She would crop up at seemingly every state and federal election, vying each time to win a seat for the Liberal Party.
Finally, her persistence paid off when she was elected as the first member for the newly created upper house seat of Prosser in 2018.
In her inaugural speech that June, she said she thought of herself as a persistent person.
“I am tenacious, a fighter and determined,” she said.
Nearly four years later, she has resigned from Cabinet, citing the death of her brother.
Ms Howlett earned the ministerial portfolios of Sport and Recreation and Racing in January 2020. She later took on the Small Business and Women portfolios, and since last Thursday, served as the Minister for Hospitality and Events, as well as Disability Services.
Premier Peter Gutwein praised Ms Howlett on Friday for “strongly” advocating on behalf of small businesses during the Covid-19 pandemic and helping “secure more elite sporting content (in Tasmania) than ever before”.
Mr Gutwein also left the door open to her returning to the ministry, should an opportunity arise in the future, when Ms Howlett is in a position to take a seat on the frontbench once more.
While the Gutwein government appears to be leaking ministers like a sieve at the moment, there is no guarantee that Ms Howlett – who was a frequent target of the Opposition during Question Time – will get an opportunity for advancement again.
She will now be free to devote herself fully to constituent work and will feature far less prominently in parliament.
The question remains: is this the end of her ministerial career?
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