Legal bill and election breach added to minister's woes

Pressure mounts on Tasmanian Liberal Jane Howlett over legal bill and election messaging Mon 15 Jun 2026 at 6:00pm In short: Labor and the Greens have escalated calls for Racing Minister Jane Howlett to resign from cabinet after more questions were raised about Tasracing messaging that breached election guidelines last year. Tasracing's communications consultant appeared at a parliamentary committee, during which he confirmed her office was aware of the wording of the messaging before it was sent out externally to racing participants. What's next? Parliament returns on Tuesday, but it is unclear if a no-confidence motion will be moved in Ms Howlett. Tasmanian Racing Minister Jane Howlett is facing mounting calls to resign from cabinet, after evidence in parliament called into question what her office knew about messaging that breached election guidelines. It comes after the Greens backed Labor's call for her to step down over her refusal to outline why she has accrued more than $300,000 in taxpayer-funded legal fees for an unrelated matter. A parliamentary committee today focused on her office's knowledge of Tasracing messaging that breached caretaker conventions during last year's state election. Private consultant Nicolas Turner, who handles Tasracing's communications, was questioned about messaging sent to racing industry participants that spoke favourably of the Liberal's TasInsure policy. Emails obtained by the ABC under right-to-information showed that Ms Howlett's senior adviser, Luke Gaetani, had been made aware of the messaging by Mr Turner. Mr Turner was asked whether Mr Gaetani had seen the messaging before it was sent out. "He would have seen the message that was sent to industry," he told parliament. "If it was four paragraphs, he would have seen the entirety of the message." Mr Turner also confirmed that Mr Gaetani was aware that it would be sent to industry participants, but not in what form. Dean Winter, Labor: He was aware that Tasracing intended to issue public communication about [the TasInsure] policy? Nicolas Turner: Yeah, we sent that to him in that context. During questioning in March, Ms Howlett tabled a statutory declaration signed by Mr Gaetani, which stated that at no time was he aware that Tasracing intended to issue a text message or social media post regarding TasInsure. A second statutory declaration from Mr Gaetani was then tabled the next day to expand this to cover "any public communication about the TasInsure policy on any platform". Mr Turner was asked if this aligned with his recollection. Dean Winter: Doesn't sound very accurate though, does it? Mr Turner: Well, that's a matter for him. In tabling the statutory declaration in March, Ms Howlett said that Mr Gaetani "had no prior knowledge of this message". She also repeatedly denied that her office was aware that a text message would be sent to industry participants. This was also put to Mr Turner today. Dean Winter: Minister Howlett says, "I can certainly tell you that I and no-one in my office was aware". Mr Turner, is that statement from Ms Howlett correct? Mr Turner: All I can do is tell you what I did, and what I did was provide a version of what Tasracing was going to say to the minister's office. I can't speak to why she said that. Caretaker conventions are that government resources should not be used to promote party-political messaging during election periods. Department of Premier and Cabinet secretary Kathrine Morgan-Wicks found the Tasracing messaging to be in breach of the election guidelines. Ms Howlett had not been made aware of this finding when asked in parliament earlier this month, later clarifying that the breach had been confirmed. Tasracing chief executive officer Andrew Jenkins accepted responsibility for the messaging. During the election campaign, Ms Howlett posted the Tasracing messaging as a comment on her Facebook page, then told parliament she was unaware of it until her own Facebook post was brought to her attention. She then corrected the record. Parliament returns on Tuesday Labor and the Greens have called for Ms Howlett to resign from cabinet. Labor's Ella Haddad said Mr Turner's evidence "directly contradicts a statutory declaration" made by Mr Gaetani. Greens leader Rosalie Woodruff said Mr Turner's evidence contradicted Ms Howlett's assurance that her office was unaware of the messaging. Parliament returns on Tuesday, but it's unclear if a no-confidence motion will be moved in Ms Howlett, or a censure motion. The government maintains that Ms Howlett and her adviser had not done anything wrong. "The minister's advisor did not have knowledge of Tasracing's intended plan to issue public communications," they said. "The adviser did what he was employed to do — answer stakeholder questions about the policy." Former minister Madeleine Ogilvie resigned from cabinet last month over how she answered questions regarding her undisclosed Supreme Court matter, in which she had accrued at least $120,000 in taxpayer-funded legal fees. She initially told parliament she was not a party to any matter, then tabled a clarification in a different committee that she was not a party to a matter initiated by someone else, then confirmed in parliament she had initiated Supreme Court action herself. The government has not accepted that she misled parliament; Labor and the Greens argue Ms Howlett should also resign because she also could not answer questions about undisclosed legal processes.