Federal minister steps down suddenly after public servant complained about his behaviour, as PM announces Mal Brough is also standing aside

This article is more than 4 years old

This article is more than 4 years old

The federal minister for cities and the built environment, Jamie Briggs, has stepped down from the Turnbull government’s frontbench after a female public servant made complaints about his behaviour on a night out in Hong Kong.

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Almost simultaneously with Briggs’s announcement, the prime minister, Malcolm Turnbull, released a statement saying the special minister of state, Mal Brough, had also stood aside “pending the completion of inquiries by the police”.

Brough has been under intense scrutiny for the role he played in the downfall of disgraced former Speaker Peter Slipper.

In the incident involving Briggs, an unnamed public servant raised concerns about the appropriateness of the then minister’s conduct on a night out. She, Briggs and his chief of staff went to a crowded bar at the end of the day’s official business. The exact nature of the complaint was not revealed.

Briggs’s statement said: “At the conclusion of the official programme for the day, my chief of staff and I went for dinner and we invited several other officials of which one female public servant agreed to attend. At the conclusion of the dinner (which I paid for personally) we went to a popular and as it transpired very crowded bar for drinks during which we interacted between the three of us and with others in what I believed, at the time, was an informal manner. At the conclusion of the evening, the public servant left to return home and my Chief of Staff and I returned to our hotel together.”

In announcing his retirement from the frontbench, Briggs said he believed the night out was an informal event but that his behaviour did not meet the “high standards” required from a minister.

“At no point was it my intention to act inappropriately,” he said. “This was an error of professional judgment.”

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Briggs insisted nothing illegal happened during the incident, which occurred in late November. He spoke to the prime minister before tendering his resignation to the governor general, Peter Cosgrove.

Briggs has apologised to the woman who made the complaint, and said he would not reveal her name “to protect her privacy and at her request”.

Turnbull issued a statement saying Briggs had resigned “after being invited to reflect on his position”.

“As Mr Briggs has noted in his public statement, ministers are expected to uphold high standards of behaviour as set out in the ministerial standards,” Turnbull’s statement said. “On this occasion his conduct fell short of that standard. After being invited to reflect on his position, he offered his resignation which I have accepted.”

Jamie Briggs (@BriggsJamie) With Victor from the Hong King MTR travelling from Kowloon and Hong Kong station, an incredible value capture model pic.twitter.com/JV7aOd78S2

The environment minister, Greg Hunt, will take over Briggs’s portfolio.

Some MPs tweeted their support for Briggs, including the finance minister, Mathias Cormann.

Mathias Cormann (@MathiasCormann) Very sad for my good friend Jamie. I know him as a decent, hard working and capable contributor to our cause. He has much to contribute.

Ewen Jones MP (@EwenJonesMP) @BriggsJamie will be back. Cream always rises. A good man and a better bloke. Tough day for a man doing a good job.

Turnbull said Cormann would act as the special minister of state while Brough was stood aside, and the defence minister, Marise Payne, would take on defence materiel and science.



He said Brough had “done the right thing” in offering to stand aside.

Briggs was promoted to the ministry when Turnbull became prime minister in September. Under Tony Abbott he had been assistant infrastructure minister.

Briggs won the South Australian seat of Mayo in 2008 after long-time Liberal MP Alexander Downer retired. The largely rural seat takes in the Adelaide Hills and the Fleurieu Peninsula.

Briggs had been a senior adviser to the former prime minister John Howard.