❓ A parliamentary question alleges the Minister for Environment instructed a group to engage in bullying, which the Minister vehemently denies. The Minister claims to have addressed bullying issues within the agency following internal reviews.
AnsweredQoN 1340Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
I have a supplementary question. Is it not true that the so-called bullying carried out by the so-called purple circle was on the minister’s instructions, because she said that when Roger Payne and others were appointed it would solve the problems? The SPEAKER: The first small part of that question is the supplementary question. Dr J.M. EDWARDS
AnswerView source ↗
I refute any allegation that I am ever a bully or that I have encouraged bullying. That is totally unacceptable to me. That is not my nature, and the member, of all people, knows that. I instituted two reviews at the beginning of the year because of some problems with the agency. One of those reviews found that there was an issue of bullying. I have tackled that, and yesterday I received very good feedback from union representatives and departmental staff that I have been successful; and, further, that the staff in that agency are very appreciative that I, as minister, have listened to them, acted on their concerns and made the hard decisions when they were needed - I have made a number of those - and they are now much happier than they were previously.
The SPEAKER: The first small part of that question is the supplementary question. Dr J.M. EDWARDS replied: I refute any allegation that I am ever a bully or that I have encouraged bullying. That is totally unacceptable to me. That is not my nature, and the member, of all people, knows that. I instituted two reviews at the beginning of the year because of some problems with the agency. One of those reviews found that there was an issue of bullying. I have tackled that, and yesterday I received very good feedback from union representatives and departmental staff that I have been successful; and, further, that the staff in that agency are very appreciative that I, as minister, have listened to them, acted on their concerns and made the hard decisions when they were needed - I have made a number of those - and they are now much happier than they were previously.
Dr J.M. EDWARDS replied: I refute any allegation that I am ever a bully or that I have encouraged bullying. That is totally unacceptable to me. That is not my nature, and the member, of all people, knows that. I instituted two reviews at the beginning of the year because of some problems with the agency. One of those reviews found that there was an issue of bullying. I have tackled that, and yesterday I received very good feedback from union representatives and departmental staff that I have been successful; and, further, that the staff in that agency are very appreciative that I, as minister, have listened to them, acted on their concerns and made the hard decisions when they were needed - I have made a number of those - and they are now much happier than they were previously.
I refute any allegation that I am ever a bully or that I have encouraged bullying. That is totally unacceptable to me. That is not my nature, and the member, of all people, knows that. I instituted two reviews at the beginning of the year because of some problems with the agency. One of those reviews found that there was an issue of bullying. I have tackled that, and yesterday I received very good feedback from union representatives and departmental staff that I have been successful; and, further, that the staff in that agency are very appreciative that I, as minister, have listened to them, acted on their concerns and made the hard decisions when they were needed - I have made a number of those - and they are now much happier than they were previously.
The SPEAKER: The first small part of that question is the supplementary question. Dr J.M. EDWARDS replied: I refute any allegation that I am ever a bully or that I have encouraged bullying. That is totally unacceptable to me. That is not my nature, and the member, of all people, knows that. I instituted two reviews at the beginning of the year because of some problems with the agency. One of those reviews found that there was an issue of bullying. I have tackled that, and yesterday I received very good feedback from union representatives and departmental staff that I have been successful; and, further, that the staff in that agency are very appreciative that I, as minister, have listened to them, acted on their concerns and made the hard decisions when they were needed - I have made a number of those - and they are now much happier than they were previously.
Dr J.M. EDWARDS replied: I refute any allegation that I am ever a bully or that I have encouraged bullying. That is totally unacceptable to me. That is not my nature, and the member, of all people, knows that. I instituted two reviews at the beginning of the year because of some problems with the agency. One of those reviews found that there was an issue of bullying. I have tackled that, and yesterday I received very good feedback from union representatives and departmental staff that I have been successful; and, further, that the staff in that agency are very appreciative that I, as minister, have listened to them, acted on their concerns and made the hard decisions when they were needed - I have made a number of those - and they are now much happier than they were previously.
I refute any allegation that I am ever a bully or that I have encouraged bullying. That is totally unacceptable to me. That is not my nature, and the member, of all people, knows that. I instituted two reviews at the beginning of the year because of some problems with the agency. One of those reviews found that there was an issue of bullying. I have tackled that, and yesterday I received very good feedback from union representatives and departmental staff that I have been successful; and, further, that the staff in that agency are very appreciative that I, as minister, have listened to them, acted on their concerns and made the hard decisions when they were needed - I have made a number of those - and they are now much happier than they were previously.
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