Article-Email leak saga anger

June 26, 2026

The Mercury | 26 June 2026; pg 6.

Email leak saga anger

David Killick

Premier Jeremy Rockliff has raised the ire of the Legislative Council with his response to concerns about the leaking of an email from a member.

Murchison MLC Ruth Forrest’s request that committee witnesses not wear overpowering fragrances to hearings was passed on within hours to a news website.

Ms Forrest raised the matter in parliament.

“Members of this place are entitled to expect private communications concerning their health and personal needs to be treated with basic dignity and discretion,” she said.

Legislative Council president Craig Farrell wrote to the Premier seeking an explanation.

“I write to raise my serious concerns regarding matters raised on the adjournment last night by two members of the Legislative Council.

“These are matters of grave concern to me and demonstrate a significant lack of respect towards members and staff of the Council.”

But Mr Rockliff rejected the inquiry.

“I am quite disappointed in the assertion in your letter and firmly reject your claim of a lack of respect towards members and staff of the Legislative Council. Further, I do not consider this to be the responsibility of the Leader for Government Business.

“I’m happy to respond to any concerns a member may wish to raise directly with me.”

Mr Farrell pointed out that it had long been the practice of the government to respond directly to concerns raised by members in the chamber.

“I will allow members to form their own opinions on the appropriateness, or otherwise, of this response,” he told the Council on Tuesday night.

Nelson independent MP Meg Webb said she was not impressed by the “increasingly disrespectful attitude of the executive towards this parliament and particularly this Chamber”.

“It beggars belief that in response to these very serious matters raised by two parliamentary colleagues and the correspondence of the president as representative of this Chamber, the Premier of this state made a conscious choice to belittle and dismiss,” she said. “The Premier deliberately chose to gaslight this Chamber’s presiding officer rather than address the substance of the issues raised.

“This is utterly extraordinary and shocking and is counter to anything remotely resembling leadership.

“It is not up to this chamber to keep accepting this bad faith and dismissive attitudes and to keep finding ways to accommodate
unacceptable behaviour. I’m deeply concerned that we are witnessing an unnecessary erosion of good and respectful parliamentary practice between the executive and this chamber.”

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