The ACT Greens are calling for fresh hearings in the parliamentary inquiry into Caretaker Conventions, after documents released under Freedom of Information revealed multiple potential breaches of the rules before and after the 2024 ACT Election.
"These FOI documents show Labor used government resources and the ACT Public Service to help coordinate and support election campaign events, so it's pretty clear the caretaker conventions are not having the effect they're meant to," said Andrew Braddock MLA, Greens spokesperson on Democracy and Integrity.
"The public service is a crucial asset to our democracy, and I will always defend it. This evidence shows a direct threat to the apolitical and unbiased nature of the public service.
"I think Labor has been in government for such a long time that there's complacency on both sides, among the politicians and the public service, that's not so much nefarious as it is foreseeable and disappointing.
"In one case, we've got Labor candidates posing for social media pictures in the refurbished Fitzroy Pavilion at EPIC, seven weeks before the ACT Government officially reopened it," Mr Braddock said.
"There was even an instance of the public service preparing an entire briefing pack for Andrew Barr - with speaking notes, instructions on where to park, a list of attending VIPs and which media outlets would be there - for the opening of Carlotta Restaurant less than 48 hours before election day.
"How could anyone think it's appropriate to use Territory resources to support Andrew Barr to cut a ribbon, two days before polls closed?
"This is clearly a case where Mr Barr could have attended without the assistance of the ACT Public Service, or, as the caretaker conventions say, the public service could have also briefed the opposition and the crossbench.
"And that is why I have brought these issues to light - because I believe it is vital that there are appropriate protections and mechanisms to ensure our public servants can remain apolitical at all times, especially during caretaker."
"As a public service town, Canberrans understand the importance of remaining impartial and able to provide frank, fearless advice to the government of the day. When those boundaries blur, we must examine the causes, address entrenched issues and strengthen the ACTPS so public servants have the independence to do their jobs as intended.
"Political parties and candidates can ask for access to government facilities for electioneering, and the public service can provide it. But in these cases, it was the Chief Minister's office asking, and the public service is in the habit of saying yes."
