Legislative Council, Thursday 28 May 2026
Ms FORREST (Murchison) – Mr President, I rise again this evening on the matter of the leak to the media of a confidential committee email. Last night I spoke on adjournment and asked a simple question: who in this government shared a private internal communication with Pulse news. At the time I spoke last night, Pulse news had not published that story. Since then, the story has been published on Pulse Tasmania’s website and on its social media, leading, as expected, to much public commentary ‑ I must say, mostly positive in support of my calling out this behaviour but also, not unexpectedly, creating a forum for many further misogynistic and sexist and inappropriate comments.
I would have thought the question that I asked, concerning both the breach of confidentiality and a workplace safety matter, would have prompted some response from the government today, but no, not from any of them, not even from my colleagues in this Chamber.
Mr Duigan – Who said it was the government?
Mr PRESIDENT – Order. We can’t have interjections on adjournment.
Ms Thomas – They shared it on their webpage, on their Facebook.
Ms FORREST – The reason I’m standing on this side of the Chamber, Mr President, is I can face the only Liberal member in the Chamber this evening, acknowledging that one of the members is ill. I did receive one call, Mr President, at 2.20 p.m. this afternoon: the Leader for the Government in this House contacted me to advise that she was unable to secure a meeting with the Premier to discuss these matters.
I want to be clear; the Leader has done everything that is required of her and I sincerely thank her for that. This failure does not rest with her and it seems even the Leader for the Government in this House is not fully respected by the government she represents here. It rests with the Premier who, when presented with a matter involving in the confidentiality of parliamentary communications and workplace safety of members and staff working in this parliament, could not find the time.
We do not sit again until mid‑June as we just moved in the previous motion ‑ almost four weeks to go. This means four weeks in which these matters will go unaddressed, unacknowledged and apparently unconsidered by those who govern this state. I know the Legislative Council sits alone that week, as the other place will have risen for its winter break on 18 June, the week before we sit. It’s highly likely the media will report that day that the parliament has risen for the winter break, but we know that won’t be true. This is a cultural problem, a workplace cultural problem: a cultural problem within the government. We know the culture flows from the top. One would have expected some communication from the leader of our government, the Premier, by now, but no. No phone call, not even a text message. Is he doing anything about this serious breach, or just hoping it goes away?
Let me be clear about where things stand: I have a range of options available to me in pursuing this further, and I intend to consider all of them carefully. Members will recall that we all signed up to the code of conduct last year and, more recently, the member for Huon did. Everyone at this place and the other place signed up to that. The Premier himself moved the motion to adopt the new code of conduct and the establishment of the Independent Complaints Commission in the other place. The motions were supported unanimously.
This code exists explicitly for situations like this, where the conduct of those connected to this parliament falls short of the standards that we have collectively committed to uphold. The leaking of a confidential committee communication to the media is not a grey area; it is a serious matter that goes to the integrity of our processes and, in this case, the safety and dignity of members. Members will also recall the establishment of the Independent Complaints Commission, a body created to provide an independent avenue for addressing exactly these kinds of complaints. I supported the establishment; we all did; but we also know, and this Chamber has raised it before, that the Independent Complaints Commission needs to be adequately resourced to do its job, and that has not happened. In the Budget before us, there is inadequate funding.
It is deeply troubling when we establish accountability mechanisms with one hand and then see the government starve them of funding with the other. If members cannot have confidence that the complaints will be properly investigated, that undermines the entire framework we put in place. Leadership is needed in this matter. Leaders should be role models for our community. I also understand the member for Rumney has had no contact from the Premier either, but she can speak for herself. I did check with her a little while ago and she has also had no contact with the Premier, the leader of this state, on a matter of great concern about matters that could well fit under our code of conduct.
I will not be making any hasty decisions about which avenue to pursue, but I want the government and everyone else who may be involved in this leak to understand clearly this is not a matter that should simply be left to fade away during the recess. I will be pursuing both matters further ‑ the leak of confidential committee information to the media and the underlying workplace safety and welfare matters ‑ and stand by my call last night for the identification of the responsible person or persons and a formal apology to me, to my fellow committee members, our committee secretary, and all members who expect and deserve a safe workplace.
I cannot adequately describe how deeply disappointed I am ‑ disappointed at the lack of respect shown to a member of this parliament, disappointed at the complete absence of communication from a government which speaks constantly of accountability and transparency and signed up to our code of conduct, and disappointed, most of all, at the lack of any genuine commitment to ensuring this is a safe, respectful workplace for everyone who serves in it. This matter is not over, and it does require a formal response from the Premier. Thank you, Mr President and thank you to the members for their indulgence.