Celia Perkins said she and her colleagues “do not consent to the reposting of our evidence to social media sites or the reproduction of our likenesses for purposes outside the framework of the parliament”. Image: Screenshot.
Senior public servants are arcing up about the way politicians are using their parliamentary committee appearances on social media – and things could get ugly.
They have already come close, with a senior Defence Department official being immediately castigated for telling a public inquiry that senators on that committee had no right to post her evidence on social media.
Top bureaucrats regularly appear before Senate Estimates and other committee inquiries held by both houses of parliament to answer questions on policy delivery and their interactions with government.
In recent years, however, some exchanges between the officials and the elected representatives sitting on committee panels have at times strayed into personal accusations and badgering.
Some senators and MPs have been accused of using bullying tactics in how they pursue lines of questioning.
While that debate is ongoing, public servants have added another grievance, and it has to do with how they are portrayed on social media.
This first became apparent in a recent committee appearance by Defence Deputy Secretary Celia Perkins.
In giving evidence before the Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Committee, Ms Perkins said she and her colleagues appearing as witnesses “do not consent to the reposting of our evidence to social media sites or the reproduction of our likenesses for purposes outside the framework of the parliament”.
Greens senator David Shoebridge immediately described it as an “extraordinary proposal” and reminded Ms Perkins that it was a public hearing and she and her colleagues are paid with taxpayers’ money.
“I’m going to make it very clear that where there’s evidence from any of these Defence officials that I think is relevant to share with the broader public, I will do so and I won’t be silenced in doing that by a Defence official,” he said.
“This is evidence given in an open public hearing … these witnesses … do not get to censor what the Australian public sees.”
Senator Shoebridge then called for a short adjournment for the committee to seek advice from the Senate Clerk over the matter.
After the break, committee chair Liberal senator Jessica Collins told the witnesses the advice was that committee members could disseminate evidence in any manner they see fit.
No prizes for guessing what footage subsequently featured on the Greens’ social media posts.
The Secretaries Board, representing department heads across the Australian Public Service, has taken up the issue with the Joint Committee on Parliamentary Standards.
It has written to the committee, raising concerns about bullying of public officials giving evidence, as well as how evidence is used on social media.
“The board’s concern is not robust questioning itself. Strong scrutiny is both legitimate and necessary,” its submission states.
“The concern arises only where conduct crosses the line into behaviour that demeans, intimidates, humiliates or personally targets official witnesses.
“The board is also concerned about the increasing use of excerpts from committee proceedings on social media, particularly where material is presented without context and exposes officials to ridicule, hostility or abuse.”
The Secretaries Board noted that parliamentarians, political offices and third parties can readily extract short segments of committee broadcasts and distribute them to large audiences via social media.
“While committee proceedings are public, and transparency is a fundamental feature of parliamentary accountability, concerns arise where excerpts:
- present an incomplete or misleading representation of exchanges
- remove questions or answers from their broader context
- portray public servants as personally responsible for government policy decisions
- invite ridicule, hostility or abuse directed at individual officials, or
- generate significant online harassment and abuse directed toward witnesses and their families, including behaviour that is threatening or intimidating.
“The posting of videos raises an additional matter of concern, particularly where these videos are edited to exclude parts of an exchange and/or add closed captions with highlights or additional commentary.”
The board’s submission says social media posts often attract offensive and threatening messages from public users directed at officials.
It has called for guidelines for MPs, including a ban on selectively editing evidence clips.
Not everyone is ignoring their complaints. Labor senator Raff Ciccone said the public servants’ concerns should be taken seriously.
“Perhaps this parliament should look at how evidence given to committees is used and whether MPs need our own standards for how we describe witness evidence online,” he said in the chamber.
Original Article published by Chris Johnson on Region Canberra.
