Political staffer alleges she was ordered to campaign for Liberal candidate

A former Liberal government staffer has told a parliamentary committee she was required to undertake "significant political campaign activities" by Liberal MPs as part of her role, despite being employed by the taxpayer to advise another MLC.Sharee Minnikin-Smith told a parliamentary committee on Friday morning that for five months leading up to the 2024 state election, she was employed by former leader of the government in the upper house, Leonie Hiscutt, but had conducted door-knocking, letterboxing and other campaigning for Jane Howlett during work time.However, the state government has denied the claims made under parliamentary privilege.In early 2024, Ms Howlett was facing a re-election campaign for the Legislative Council seat of Prosser, before she instead chose to contest the seat of Lyons at the 2024 state election.Ms Minnikin-Smith was employed by Ms Hiscutt as a parliamentary advisor in November 2023, before which she had been a membership engagement officer for the Liberal Party."It was explained that I'd be working in her office in the Legislative Council and I would be helping with the bills that were on notice and not on notice," she told the House of Assembly Committee on Caretaker conventions, which is conducting an inquiry into the 2025 state election campaign."Over time, I began to feel that I had been employed for a purpose different from the role I believed I had accepted."'100 per cent for Jane Howlett'Ministerial and parliamentary staff are not required to be apolitical, unlike other public servants. However, they are not allowed to undertake party political activities as a part of their jobs, according to the Integrity Commission.They are free to do so outside of work hours.Asked what the split between her work for Leonie Hiscutt and Jane Howlett was during office hours, Ms Minnikin-Smith said it was "100 per cent for Jane Howlett".Asked to describe some of the campaigning work she was alleging she had done for Ms Howlett, she said: "door-knocking, letterbox dropping, also putting together a list of members of the public, certain community groups, also there were her campaigning events."A government spokesperson issued a statement saying, "an ex-employee has made a series of incorrect claims under parliamentary privilege".Jane Howlett pictured in parliament in March this year. (ABC News: Ebony ten Broeke)Ms Minnikin-Smith also raised concerns about treatment she experienced during her time in Ms Howlett's office.She says she lodged an application with Tasmanian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (TasCAT) after being terminated by the Department of Premier and Cabinet (DPAC), but chose not to continue it.Lyons MP Ms Howlett resigned from cabinet last month, following increasing pressure from the opposition and crossbench over $405,000 of taxpayer funds used to pay for her legal action.Premier Jeremy Rockliff later confirmed the Supreme Court action was related to an Integrity Commission investigation, the nature of which is not publicly available.Ms Howlett had also been a cabinet minister between 2020 and 2022.'Accidental email' was an order, staffer saysLiberal MP and committee member Marcus Vermey repeatedly raised concerns about Ms Minnikin-Smith's evidence, saying it did not relate to the 2025 state election campaign, which is the target of the inquiry."I understand things happened in '24," he said."We had an election in '25, and that things happening in '25 — we need to focus on that."Committee chair, Greens MP Tabatha Badger, allowed the committee to continue to hear Ms Minnikin-Smith's evidence, on the basis that it had voted to do so at its previous meeting.Part of Ms Minnikin-Smith's evidence surrounded an email titled "A strong plan for the Tasman region", sent the day before the 2024 state election.It was sent at 9:03 PM from Ms Minnikin-Smith's government email address to constituents in the Tasman Peninsula region, advising them of election commitments made by the Liberal Party.The email was raised during 2024 government business hearings by independent MLC Meg Webb, who asked if it was a breach of the Code of Conduct.The premier informed the committee that the email had "inadvertently" been sent from the wrong email address, and an apology had been made.However, Ms Minnikin-Smith disputed that, telling the committee she had been "instructed" by Ms Howlett to send the email from that address.She also said she had raised concerns at the time with her manager at DPAC."I said that this is what I'd been instructed to do by Jane, and I'm not comfortable with it because I know it's not OK," she told the committee.Ms Minnikin-Smith said she was told by a manager, "don't worry about it, nothing will happen about it".Jane Howlett resigned from cabinet following increasing pressure from the opposition and crossbench over $405,000 of taxpayer funds used to pay for her legal action. (ABC News: Luke Bowden)Integrity commission raises concerns about staff activitiesLabor MP Dean Winter said the allegations made by Ms Minnikin-Smith were serious."She's got nothing to gain except to tell her story and tell the truth and explain to Tasmanians what really happened during that election campaign," he said."Now if you're a candidate outside of the Liberal Party, you're giving up your work, you're not being paid, you're doing everything yourself with volunteers."He questioned whether the issue was "systemic", and whether public resources had been misused in the 2025 election campaign.The caretaker conventions committee has already heard TasRacing breached the code of conduct by spruiking a Liberal election policy in a text message to industry participants.Tasmania's Integrity Commission released a report this week on the misuse of public funds, saying "Tasmania has comparatively fewer regulatory safeguards"."Where rules do exist, there are limited systems to properly oversee them, investigate breaches, and hold public officials accountable."It made 20 recommendations, including time recording mechanisms to ensure that the staff of MPs and ministers do not engage in partisan activities during work hours.It did acknowledge that some party activities may be seen as parliamentary duties, when they are linked to other legitimate public activities."However, in the majority of cases, public activities do not extend to election campaigning, pre-selection activities, party fundraising, or activities relating to growing or sustaining party membership."