Greens leader Samantha Ratnam under pressure over role in establishing secret transphobia inquiry

Senior figures within the Victorian Greens privately warned that, in their view, a secret inquiry into transphobia was a “kangaroo court” and “witch hunt” that they felt was designed to boot two prominent members out of the party.
Revelations about the political machinations behind the inquiry, which found no new evidence of transphobia within the Greens and made no findings against any party member, will increase pressure on state leader Samantha Ratnam to explain her role in establishing the probe and selecting its three-person panel.
The confidential 88-page report of the panel of inquiry, published in full by this masthead on Saturday, was handed to the party’s state council after a five-month investigation into allegations of transphobia.
Internal party documents, obtained by this masthead, show the inquiry was originally proposed by Ratnam and Greens senator Janet Rice and squarely aimed at two members: City of Melbourne councillor Rohan Leppert and senior industrial officer Linda Gale.
A source present at the December meeting, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss internal party matters, said the terms of reference were subsequently changed to remove any references to Leppert and Gale and avoid legal challenge. Another party insider said: “State council, as bad as it is, recognised that looked too much like a stitch-up.”
“The Greens are supposed to be a party different from all the rest, dedicated to reasonable discussion of difficult issues, based on transparency and consensus,” Eldridge wrote in the email, which has been obtained by this masthead. “This inquiry is anathema to that and to principles of procedural fairness and natural justice.

Source: Greens leader Samantha Ratnam under pressure over role in establishing secret transphobia inquiry

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.