- Richard Marles’ chief of staff resigns
- She leveled accusations of bullying against his office.
The Deputy Prime Minister’s chief of staff has made explosive allegations of bullying in the country’s highest offices after quitting her job.
At a news conference on Thursday morning, Jo Tarnawsky said she had reported harassment and other inappropriate behavior among staff in Richard Marles’ office, and felt she was then kicked out of parliament.
His initial complaint did not contain any accusations against Mr. Marles.
Her lawyer, Michael Bradley, told reporters that the deputy prime minister made the call to fire Ms. Tarnawsky after she made the report.
“So what happened was that Jo raised a legitimate concern about issues within the deputy first minister’s office, including bullying behaviour, and the response was to dismiss her from her job,” he said.
“Jo accepts that it is a relationship of trust and confidence, and if that trust is not there, then of course it cannot continue.
“She is like any worker in the country, she has the right to fair treatment, a fair procedure and her rights as an employee have not been respected.”
Tarnawsky called on the Prime Minister to take action on his allegations.
The Deputy Prime Minister’s chief of staff (pictured Richard Marles) has made explosive allegations of bullying in the country’s highest offices after quitting her job.
At a news conference on Thursday morning, Jo Tarnawsky said she had reported harassment and other inappropriate behavior among staff in Richard Marles’ office, and felt she was then kicked out of parliament.
“The Prime Minister has committed the government to parliamentary workplace reforms, to ensuring the safety of women in this building and to higher standards in the ministerial code of conduct,” Ms Tarnawsky said.
‘I asked the Prime Minister to honor these commitments in full. No political party is immune to bad behavior in the workplace, but the real test is how they handle it when it happens.’
The allegations come after the government passed legislation establishing a new independent body to crack down on bad behavior in parliament.
The Independent Parliamentary Standards Commission (IPSC) began functioning on 1 October.
MPs also voted yesterday in favor of creating a joint committee on parliamentary standards to oversee the new codes of conduct.
More to come.