Bully claim must not be used to gag MPs: Greens
Efforts intended to prevent bullying must not be used to protect senior public servants from legitimate criticism, the Greens say. LATEST >
Tasmania
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Efforts intended to prevent bullying must not be used to protect senior public servants from legitimate criticism, the Greens say.
Premier Jeremy Rockliff is expected to make a ministerial statement parliament on Tuesday about the singling out of state servants during question time.
It follows a letter from Anti-Discrimination Commission Sarah Bolt to Mr Rockliff in his role as chair of Parliament’s Workplace Culture Committee.
Ms Bolt wrote a damning report into the Workplace Culture in the Tasmanian Ministerial and Parliamentary Services, which was released last year.
Greens leader Cassy O’Connor said the timing of the letter to the Committee was curious given criticisms of some of those involved in the administration of horse racing in Tasmania.
She accused the Premier of attempting to use the issue to distract from parliamentary debate of the stadium issue.
“If there is a senior public servant who we believe is not administering their responsibilities appropriately, then we should be able to talk about them in the parliament,” she said.
“I think Tasmanians would expect us to, it’s a really important part of our scrutiny.
“We simply cannot allow the Rockliff government to make any changes, for example, to parliamentary standing orders, that would curtail the privilege of MPs.
“It’s a great responsibility to exercise parliamentary privilege to hold the torch to public servants who aren’t, in our view and in the broader public view, performing their roles properly.
“Every senior public servant, secretary of department or director is on $350,000 or $400,000 a year. They know that the role comes with public responsibilities.”
Comment was sought from Mr Rockliff.
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