Legislative Council - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2023-06-13 Daily Xml

Contents

President's Statement

The PRESIDENT (14:30): Members will be aware that a matter has arisen where a staff member of a Liberal member of this council had been placed on an internal email distribution list titled 'All Labor LC'. The Clerk was asked to make inquiries into the matter and has advised that through an inadvertent error made by the Parliamentary Network Support Group at the time of the creation of the account of a trainee in the office of the Hon. Mrs Henderson, the trainee's name was placed on the distribution list.

Upon notification of the trainee's inclusion on the list, PNSG immediately removed him from the list. The trainee did not request to be added to the list. No other person requested for the trainee to be added to the list. The Hon. Mrs Henderson was not aware that the trainee was placed on the list until the last sitting week.

The trainee received three emails—one in December 2022, one in January 2023, and one in February 2023—where he was not an intended recipient and as a direct result of his membership of the 'All Labor LC' distribution list. The trainee did not tell the Hon. Mrs Henderson he was on the distribution list but did report it to his then office manager. Other than one email he forwarded to his office manager in February when reporting the matter, the trainee did not forward any emails to any persons.

The Clerk has advised that the trainee has been entirely cooperative during his inquiries, notwithstanding the significant impact the matter has had on him, and he is to be commended for his transparency and cooperation.