‘I’m trying my best’: Former Jacqui Lambie staffer Fern Messenger draws the ire of Federal Court judge

A former staffer who is suing Senator Jacqui Lambie for unfair dismissal has broken down in tears after a stern rebuke from the Federal Court judge. LATEST FROM THE CASE >>

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JACQUI Lambie’s former officer manager has broken down in an emotional flood of tears while cross-examining the Senator during a drawn-out unfair dismissal battle.

Fern Messenger began sobbing before the Federal Court of Australia on Wednesday after being reminded by Justice John Snaden to stick to relevant questions.

“I have allowed you to ask questions that I never would have allowed competent counsel to ask,” the judge said.

Mrs Messenger and her husband Rob – Ms Lambie’s former chief of staff – are representing themselves in the lengthy court stoush that is now in its third week of hearings.

“I’m trying my best, Your Honour,” Mrs Messenger wept, explaining she was still trying to learn the process.

Justice Snaden reminded her that Ms Lambie, “a Senator of Australia”, had spent the past two-and-a-half days giving evidence, and that he wished to expedite the process.

“It’s been the past four years of our lives!” Mrs Messenger replied, before the hearing went to a temporary adjournment.

Jacqui Lambie’s former staffers Rob and Fern Messenger. Picture: Supplied

The Messengers claim that Senator Lambie issued the couple with show-cause letters as “an act of reprisal” for them sending a public interest disclosure of complaint about the Senator’s office to then-prime minister Malcolm Turnbull.

The pair described the public interest disclosure as a “whistleblowing letter” that raised “serious workplace health and safety issues”.

In response, Senator Lambie said the public interest disclosure was “humiliating and absolutely degrading”, but denied it had led to the Messengers’ termination.

Mrs Messenger also described the mediation offered before the pair’s termination as a “sham”.

“It was an unbalanced process where I was clearly at a disadvantage,” she said.

“This was a sham process.”

She also said documents she allegedly shredded in the Senator’s Burnie office while on sick leave were not of importance.

“It’s not a credible reason to be threatening termination,” Mrs Messenger argued.

Ms Lambie agreed the documents she’d seen in the security bin didn’t appear to be of importance.

The hearing, held via video-link from Melbourne, continues.

FEBRUARY 8:

SENATOR Jacqui Lambie has fired back at two of her former employees alleging unfair dismissal, telling the Federal Court they bullied other staff and “tracked” her via her mobile phone.

She also said a public interest disclosure, which former chief of staff Rob Messenger had written in complaint to then-Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, was “just demeaning” and “the last straw”.

On Monday, Ms Lambie told Justice John Snaden that in the early days of her tenure as an inexperienced and “green” parliamentarian, she’d relied heavily on Mr Messenger for advice in navigating the system.

But she said by 2017, amid complaints from other staff members, she’d “started to wake up” to the fact that her office was in disarray.

During her first day giving evidence in the trial, which resumed this week after two weeks of hearings last October, Ms Lambie said “there was certainly no trust” left in her relationship with the Messengers.

“To send this to demean me, and put this kind of rubbish out there … I thought that was the lowest point,” she said of the PID.

“He’s a former parliamentarian and he should know better than that.”

“To me this is the last straw mate. Sorry, I’m done.”

But she denied the PID was the reason she dismissed the Messengers.

Senator Jacqui Lambie. Picture: Photo by Sam Mooy/Getty Images

She said in 2017, other staff came to her and said they had been too afraid to speak up about the Messengers’ behaviour, that they were being bullied and “walking on eggshells”.

She said her other employees had also raised concerns over what they saw as the Messengers closely monitoring their employer.

“They said they may as well have microchipped because that’s what they were doing with my phone,” she said.

“They knew exactly where I was at any time. They were gathering a lot of information from my own phone.

“I was fuming.”

Ms Lambie denied claims that Mr Messenger and his wife Fern - who had been employed as her office manager - had made a number of complaints about her use of “vulgar” language and “excessive alcohol consumption”.

She also denied the Messengers’ claim that they’d complained to her over concerns for their safety following a 2015 death threat, which had arrived in the form of a letter from someone claiming to be a supporter of Islamic State.

Ms Lambie said she went to Ministerial and Parliamentary Services for advice on how to manage the workplace issue, and was advised to undergo mediation.

The trial, which is being held via video-link from Melbourne, continues.

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