Arabic version: مسؤولة دفاعية تقول إن الوزير المساعد دعم طلباً بشأن وسائل التواصل الاجتماعي

According to ABC News, Deputy Secretary Celia Perkins said in emails that Assistant Defence Minister Peter Khalil was “fully supportive” of her plan to ask that footage of parliamentary hearings not be used on social media. Perkins raised the request at a committee hearing last month, saying she did not consent to her evidence appearing on social media.

The request was rejected by committee chair Senator Jess Collins, following advice from parliamentary officials. Collins said senators and members of the public had the right to disseminate evidence provided by witnesses in the manner they saw fit. Senate Clerk Richard Pye later said it was not something a witness could do and described the way the matter was raised as “profoundly unhelpful”.

Emails obtained through a Freedom of Information request show Perkins told colleagues she had discussed her planned statement with Khalil and staff from Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles’s office two days before the hearing. She wrote that Department Secretary Meghan Quinn and the assistant minister supported the plan. ABC News reported that Marles’s office provided no input to the statement before it was made, while comment was sought from Khalil and Marles.

Perkins said edited and embellished social media clips from earlier hearings had generated “vile, personal commentary”, caused distress for staff and invited online bullying. She also raised potential security risks for Defence leaders and security clearance holders. The Secretaries Board later considered whether new standards were needed for online use of parliamentary evidence. Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet head Steven Kennedy said he did not support censoring footage, but said conduct that demeans, intimidates, humiliates or personally targets witnesses was inconsistent with the behaviour code for parliamentarians.