Murray Watt rejects staff bias claims from One Nation and Payman
One Nation and independent Senator Fatima Payman accuse Prime Minister Albanese of using staff jobs against them.
One Nation and independent Senator Fatima Payman accuse Prime Minister Anthony Albanese of using staff jobs against them. One Nation leader Pauline Hanson says Albanese gave staff jobs to her MP David Farley without asking.
Albanese did this to gain political influence. Senator Payman says the government delayed her two-year request for an adviser.
This was payback for leaving Labor. Cabinet minister Murray Watt rejected both accusations.
He said the government responds to requests from all regional MPs the same way. He said MPs from different parties got extra staff, including Barnaby Joyce and Andrew Gee from the Coalition.
They represent large rural electorates. Watt also said the Greens have more than double the staff of One Nation.
They have more senators. He said the Prime Minister's choice on staff jobs has always been normal.
- Five electorate officers per crossbencher
- Baseline allocations
- David Farley
- One Nation MP
- Murray Watt
- Cabinet minister
- Fatima Payman
- Independent senator
Why it mattersControl of staff affects how well MPs can check government policy and serve voters.
AustraliaIt affects how effectively crossbench senators and MPs can scrutinise the Albanese government and serve their constituents.
✓ Claims checked against the source and corrected before publish. checked 2 h ago
