Senators under fire over Ashby comments

17 May 2012, 9:13 pm   -   Source: AAP

James Ashby is claiming a breach of contract, but the commonwealth says he hasn't raised his allegations with the Department of Finance and Deregulation.

The commonwealth has accused a staffer of federal Speaker Peter Slipper of waging a media campaign and failing to take any steps to resolve his sexual harassment claim before going public.

In court documents filed in the Federal Court on Thursday, the commonwealth says James Ashby was obliged under law to "take genuine steps to resolve the breach of contract dispute".

Also on Thursday Mr Ashby took separate action against Foreign Minister Bob Carr and Nationals Senate leader Barnaby Joyce over comments they made about his allegations,

The civil case on the sexual harassment claims is listed in the Sydney Federal Court for directions on Friday.

Mr Ashby filed an application on April 20, launching his civil proceedings against the commonwealth and Mr Slipper, who he claims sexually harassed him.

He is claiming a breach of contract, but the commonwealth said Mr Ashby had never raised his allegations with any employee in the Department of Finance and Deregulation, which is responsible for administering his employment.

The commonwealth listed six ways Mr Ashby could have brought the dispute to its attention in a timely fashion before launching his court action.

The statement said it was incorrect for Mr Ashby to claim that notifying either Mr Slipper or the commonwealth would only increase the opportunity for victimisation.

Mr Ashby's spokesman, Anthony McClellan, said Mr Ashby feared reprisals which is why he didn't notify the commonwealth.

"Taking the matter into the public domain gave him the best form of protection against reprisal," he said.

Meanwhile, Mr Ashby has lodged a complaint against Senator Carr and Senator Joyce in the Human Rights Commission.

A letter from his lawyers says that in direct response to Mr Ashby making the harassment allegations, he has been subjected to "repeated public attacks on his reputation, integrity and credibility by senior politicians".

The letter says that on May 5 Senator Carr published a "tweet" on his official Foreign Affairs Twitter account stating "This Ashby seems more rehearsed than a kabuki actor".

They also allege that on May 6, Senator Joyce told the media: "If you are going to play marriage guidance counsellor, you've got to hear both sides of the story."

Senator Carr said there were more serious cases of infringements of human rights than Mr Ashby's complaint.

"Sexual harassment is serious," he told ABC TV.

"But it should not become a political plaything."

Senator Carr said it would have been far better for all concerned if Mr Ashby had presented the allegations "cleanly" to the proper authorities, without having three meetings with his employer's "political opponents".

Senator Joyce told AAP if Mr Ashby wanted to take him to the commission that was his right.

Senator Joyce said he hailed from the south-west Queensland town of St George - "a part of the country where people are robust".

"I didn't think I impuned his (Mr Ashby's) character," he said.

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