Jacqui Lambie

Lambie used a Senate speech to detail the alleged conduct of a former staff member who had brought unfair dismissal proceedings, despite warnings from the Senate President about the risk of identifying the individual.

State of the evidence

Settlement

Attribution

Directly implicated

Senator Tammy Tyrrell left the JLN less than two years after her election, explaining that Lambie and the board no longer had confidence in how she represented the party. The board's identity and role raised transparency questions.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Directly implicated

Four months after three JLN MPs were elected to Tasmania's Parliament, Lambie expelled Rebekah Pentland and Miriam Beswick, then announced that she would no longer field state-level candidates and apologised for the instability created.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Directly implicated

Two former staff members sued Lambie following their dismissal, alleging, among other matters, retaliation linked to workplace health and safety complaints. The Federal Court dismissed their claims in 2022 and found the allegations unsubstantiated.

Attribution

Accused

Lambie resigned from the Senate after discovering that she had inherited British citizenship from her father at the time of her election, making her ineligible under section 44(i).

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Directly implicated

Shortly after entering the Senate, Lambie raised the possibility of China invading Australia and refused to apologise despite a reaction from the Chinese embassy.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Personally implicated

Lambie called for a ban on the burqa and stated that supporters of sharia had no place in Australia, broadly associating them with extremism. An interview in which she struggled to define sharia precisely intensified the controversy.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Personally implicated

After months of conflict with Clive Palmer over voting discipline and party leadership, Lambie left the Palmer United Party and became an independent senator.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Political responsibility