Ex-minister stands by staffer's declaration amid election guideline breach claims

Former Tasmanian minister Jane Howlett is maintaining her support for a statutory declaration submitted on behalf of a former staffer, despite claims of inconsistencies. The declaration asserts that the staffer was unaware of messaging sent by government business Tasracing that promoted the Liberal party's TasInsure policy during the election campaign.

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I'm not going to comment on that. It's Mr Gaetani's stat dec, he stands by that, Mr Winter.

Howlett, who previously served as racing minister, presented the statutory declaration from her former chief of staff, Luke Gaetani. This declaration stated Gaetani had no knowledge of Tasracing's intention to issue public communications about TasInsure. However, further emails presented at a parliamentary hearing suggested Gaetani was aware of the messaging prior to its dissemination.

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If you're not going to correct the record, I guess I have to assume you also stand by the stat dec because if you didn't, you'd have to withdraw it.

During a parliamentary hearing, Howlett was questioned about the accuracy of the statutory declaration. While she stated she needed to seek advice on the matter, she also commented that "there is no evidence that it's false." Labor representative Dean Winter pressed Howlett, suggesting that if she did not correct the record, he would assume she also stood by the declaration.

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I will need to seek some advice on that, Mr Winter.

Further scrutiny arose regarding a Facebook post Howlett shared, which spoke positively of the TasInsure policy. Howlett had previously stated she was unaware of the post until it was brought to her attention in parliament. Although she assured the hearing the post had been deleted, it was observed to still be publicly visible on Friday. The head of Tasmania's state service had previously found Tasracing's messaging breached election guidelines and recommended staff training.

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I thought I'd removed them … I would have to through and have a look.