00:00Sidelined for 200 days and now headed for court.
00:07Today, after untenable delays and inaction from the government,
00:11I am launching legal proceedings in the Federal Court of Australia.
00:14Jo Tanowski filing legal action against the government,
00:18the Deputy Prime Minister
00:20and the Prime Minister's Chief of Staff, Tim Gartrell,
00:23over the handling of a bullying complaint.
00:26In the statement of claim, she says
00:28she was subject to an escalating course of conduct
00:31from a senior staff member,
00:33which amounted to bullying and harassment.
00:36After she raised the complaints in April,
00:38she alleges Mr Miles informed her she was not stood down
00:42but was directed to take an immediate break from work
00:45and to find alternative employment.
00:47She alleges she was gradually isolated
00:50from the Deputy Prime Minister's team,
00:52claiming she ceased receiving team emails
00:55and discovered dog pictures had been removed
00:58from the office's shared pet wall.
01:00She's been in a state of limbo,
01:03frozen out for, as she said, over 200 days now.
01:08The statement of claim also makes specific mention
01:11of a trip to Ukraine,
01:13during which Ms Tanowski was under pressure
01:15to ensure the expense to taxpayers and risk to staff was justified
01:20to prevent the trip becoming a $350,000 war zone coffee.
01:24The government has been afforded multiple opportunities
01:27to rectify the wrongs done to me,
01:29but it has done nothing except duck and cover, collude and delay.
01:33There's no allegations of bullying against Tim Gartrell
01:37or Richard Miles, who's previously said he's satisfied
01:40he's upheld the code of conduct.
01:42Today, a spokesperson's saying,
01:44as the matter's subject to legal proceedings,
01:47there won't be further comment.
01:49This week marks three years
01:51since the Sex Discrimination Commissioner
01:53released her landmark report into parliamentary standards.
01:56The Albanese government came into power promising to lift them
02:00and now faces a challenge,
02:02as one of the most senior female staffers in parliament
02:05alleges her experience falls far short
02:08of a safe and respectful workplace.
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