Greens leader Cassy O’Connor has accused Premier Peter Gutwein of trying to deflect blame over Jaensch document leak

Premier Peter Gutwein has slammed Greens leader Cassy O’Connor for making a public servant “deeply distraught” over the airing of a confidential cabinet document, but she has hit back.

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PREMIER Peter Gutwein has written to Cassy O’Connor seeking an apology for the deep distress he alleges the Greens leader caused to a staff member.

But Ms O’Connor has hit back, saying the only person who should apologise to the staffer over the airing of a confidential cabinet document in parliament is Housing Minister Roger Jaensch.

She has replied to Mr Gutwein’s letter saying that had Mr Jaensch told the truth straight up, the document in question “would not have seen the light of day”.

During an eventful day in parliament on Thursday, Mr Jaensch said he was not aware of plans to amend eviction laws, but Ms O’Connor then produced a misdirected email containing a confidential cabinet minute that showed cabinet had decided to amend laws to make evictions easier and had then changed its mind.

Housing Minister Roger Jaensch in parliament.

An attempt to move a motion of no confidence in Mr Jaensch was defeated after independent Madeleine Ogilvie voted with the government.

Mr Gutwein wrote to Ms O’Connor on Friday accusing her of showing “reckless disregard for Tasmania’s system of government” by sharing the confidential document and of causing deep distress to the staff member responsible for accidentally sending it to the Greens.

“The resulting distress to them could have been avoided had the Greens properly acknowledged that the cabinet documents had been received as a result of an administrative error and then returned them in good faith,” Mr Gutwein wrote.

“I would also ask that you consider a formal apology to the staff member concerned for placing them in this very distressing situation and acknowledging their discomfort.”

Greens MP Cassy O'Connor. Picture: RICHARD JUPE

Ms O’Connor accused Mr Gutwein of deflecting blame away from his minister and said it was a “ridiculous proposition” to suggest the Greens were bound by cabinet confidentiality.

She said the cabinet document was of very significant public interest, with potential impact on the lives of thousands of Tasmanian renters, and it was Mr Jaensch who should apologise.

“Of course it saddens me that a blameless member of the Minister’s staff has been affected,” Ms O’Connor wrote in a letter to Mr Gutwein.

“We had no choice but to reveal the cabinet decision once he (Mr Jaensch) has misled parliament.

“It was entirely appropriate for the Greens to raise the threat to tenancy protections revealed by the Cabinet decision,” she added.

After Thursday’s furore Mr Jaensch explained that a cabinet decision had no effect until it came to the parliament, and that he could not breach cabinet confidence.

Ms O’Connor said she would not let the matter rest and she told reporters on Saturday there was clearly an issue with document security within the government.

“When we were in government between 2010 and 2014 we only received hard copies of cabinet papers, they were not shared and in fact they were stored in a locked file in our ministerial office,” Ms O’Connor said.

“If the Premier is so keen not to see cabinet documents expose government’s actions towards Tasmanians in parliament, he needs to make sure there’s much tighter security.

“This was almost an inevitability if your approach to cabinet documents is to send them around electronically,” she said.

Sports Minister Jane Howlett said on Saturday the government was “100 per cent behind” Mr Jaensch.

“I think most Tasmanians are simply over these gotcha moments and just want us as politicians to get on with the job,” she said.