Premier Hodgman’s disgraceful determination to avoid scrutiny by delaying the resumption of the Tasmanian Parliament does not alter the fact that extremely important questions about the Rene Hidding scandal require answers.
Labor Leader Rebecca White said while a police investigation was now underway as to those allegations, it was the responsibility of the Premier to urgently address serious anomalies in information given to Tasmanians over the past several days. This does not affect the investigation of those allegations.
Ms White said the Premier today needed to provide explanations for serious questions including:
Why there was allegedly no follow-up investigation when allegations were first provided to police by the woman in relation to Mr Hidding in 2013?
Did Mr Hidding in fact contact the woman following her complaint to police in 2013 and why?
When exactly did the Premier become aware of the allegations?
Does the Premier stand by his claim that he first learned of the allegations through the media when they were published in The Weekend Australian on Saturday February 23?
Why did the Premier not follow up the woman’s contact with his office earlier this month when she provided her name and telephone number?
Will the Premier publicly release his letter he wrote to the Police Commissioner on Saturday February 23?
What has the Premier asked the Police Commissioner to investigate?
Does it include the allegation that information was passed to the police in 2013?
Does it include investigating the information provided to the Premier’s office earlier this month by the woman?
Will he confirm his office will cooperate with any police investigation?
Were other members of Cabinet aware of these allegations, when did they become aware and what did they do with that information, in particular did they share information with the Premier and police?
What other steps will the Premier take to ensure the public can have full confidence that the circumstances of these allegations have been fully investigated?
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