Arabic version: هاوليت تدافع عن إقرار موظف في جلسة استماع بتسمانيا
According to ABC News, former Tasmanian minister Jane Howlett has stood by a statutory declaration tabled in parliament for former chief of staff Luke Gaetani, after questions about apparent inconsistencies with other evidence at a hearing into caretaker conventions. Howlett, Tasmania’s racing minister until she resigned from cabinet in June, was questioned on Friday about what her office knew of Tasracing messaging during last year’s election campaign.
Tasracing sent members messaging favourable to the Liberal Party’s TasInsure policy. Emails obtained by the ABC under right-to-information provisions showed Gaetani had been made aware of the message before it was sent. His statutory declaration said he was not aware of Tasracing’s intention to issue public communications about TasInsure. At a June hearing, Tasracing communications consultant Nic Turner provided further emails sent to Gaetani with the subject line “message to industry”.
Asked whether she believed the declaration remained accurate, Howlett said she would need to seek advice. She later told the hearing there was “no evidence that it’s false”. Tasracing chief executive Andrew Jenkins had earlier said he heard details of the TasInsure policy from Howlett by phone, while Howlett said she did not recall the conversation. A Tasracing statement supporting the policy was shared on Howlett’s Facebook page. She said it had been removed, but it was still online on Friday.
The head of Tasmania’s state service, Kathrine Morgan-Wicks, previously found the Tasracing messaging breached election guidelines and recommended staff training. Morgan-Wicks is also investigating claims by former staffer Sharee Minnikin-Smith that she was asked to campaign for Howlett in 2024 while employed as a taxpayer-funded adviser for another Liberal MP. Howlett said the work was voluntary party activity and said she did not know whether public resources had been used. The government has disputed Minnikin-Smith’s claims.
