Latest news with #SenatorCox
ABC News
6 days ago
- General
- ABC News
Former staffer 'offended' after PM says Dorinda Cox complaints 'dealt with'
One of Dorinda Cox's former staff says workplace complaints against the senator remain unresolved and she is "deeply surprised" and "offended" the prime minister said they had been "dealt with appropriately" after welcoming her into Labor ranks. The WA senator, who last year faced bullying allegations from staff, quit the Greens to join the government in a shock move announced alongside Anthony Albanese in Perth on Monday. Esther Montgomery, who worked for the Greens senator for six weeks in 2024, said staff including her felt their complaints to the Parliamentary Workplace Support Service (PWSS) were "unfinished". "The problem with PWSS is they actually have no powers," Ms Montgomery said. "All they can do is make recommendations, that's the problem." The PWSS told the ABC it was unable to provide information on the matter, but Mr Albanese has repeatedly insisted the complaints had been examined and were in the past. "Those issues were dealt with appropriately," he said on Monday. "My government has established very clear guidelines, meaning that any issues relating to workplaces and making sure that workplaces are safe are properly examined. "They were all dealt with in Senator Cox's case and dealt with appropriately." He again on Tuesday said the complaints "got dealt with by the mechanism that my government established". While Ms Montgomery would not detail her complaint against the senator, she said her time in the office left her traumatised and she was speaking with a group of former colleagues who were considering further action. "We have had no option but to form a group of ex-staffers and go down the legal road," she said. The ABC contacted Senator Cox for comment. Last year, Nine Newspapers reported 20 staff had left Senator Cox's office in three years, including some who lodged bullying complaints. In response, the senator issued an apology for the distress caused, citing "challenging conditions both politically and personally," while also criticising the story, saying it was "missing context". "There have been many challenges during my first three years in office including the COVID epidemic, taking on the First Nations portfolio alongside the Voice Referendum, and leading many significant committee inquiries," she said in a statement in October. "As the employer, I take responsibility for any shortcomings in what has occurred during this period and I apologise for the distress this may have caused. "There are parts of the reporting that reflect staff grievances that were not presented to me, or that were assessed and not progressed by the independent Parliamentary Workplace Support Service," she said. Separate to that, an internal party investigation into the senator has not yet been completed. One WA Greens insider told the ABC they believed she was worried about getting pre-selected because of the bullying allegations and that contributed to her exit. Several sources also said she was frustrated she was not elected as the party's deputy or deputy whip when they decided on new leadership last month. The ABC has been told the "Blak Greens" network within the Greens did not support Senator Cox in her deputy leader ambitions. First Nations West Australians also expressed disappointment with Senator Cox's representation of the Indigenous community. That includes Raelene Cooper, an indigenous elder who led the opposition against the North West Gas Shelf project and said Senator Cox had quickly walked away from the criticism she made while in the Greens. "Does Senator Cox still believe that the government she's just joined is colluding with the gas industry, like she claimed while standing next to me at a press conference in Canberra last year?" she said. "As an Aboriginal woman of this country, it's hypocritical and it's shameful. "The senator did nothing for us grassroots people over here in Western Australia. "Absolutely nothing." In a statement on Tuesday, Ms Cox's former Greens colleague Lidia Thorpe noted she had been "working hard" on the party's Truth and Justice Commission Bill, but nonetheless criticised her defection because she would be "expected to fall in line" with Labor. Labor MPs have welcomed the senator's defection, despite many in the ranks questioning Fatima Payman's position in parliament when she left Labor to join the cross bench last year. Senator Payman addressed the comparison on Tuesday, hitting out at the prime minister. "Look, some people may call the prime minister hypocritical," she said. "That being said, I'm just glad that Senator Cox hasn't had to deal with all the name-calling and the smear campaign that I had to deal with." Her comments came after senior Labor ministers said in July they would not stay in parliament if they quit the party.
ABC News
6 days ago
- General
- ABC News
Federal politics live: Cox defects from Greens to boost Labor Senate ranks
Senator Dorinda Cox's defection from the Greens to Labor will increase the government's numbers in the Upper House. Follow our live blog below.
