More evidence Greens MP broke rules
By NSW political reporter Mark Tobin
Updated 6 hours 3 minutes agoMore evidence has emerged showing New South Wales Greens MP Lee Rhiannon has used the resources of State Parliament to promote her Senate candidacy.
The ABC has uncovered emails Ms Rhiannon sent from her State Parliament account in which she describes herself as the Greens' lead Senate candidate for NSW.
NSW Legislative Council clerk Lynn Lovelock has confirmed the MP has broken parliamentary rules by using the email account to campaign for an election.
Acting NSW Premier John Hatzistergos says it is yet another example of Ms Rhiannon doing the wrong thing.
"Clearly, Ms Rhiannon needs some remedial education in relation to the use of her parliamentary entitlements," he said.
"This seems quite surprising for someone who is so vociferous in relation to everybody else's use of entitlements."
The ABC revealed similar examples of Ms Rhiannon's use of state parliamentary resources last week.
The state MP had listed her NSW parliamentary phone number as her contact number on several media releases about her Senate campaign.
She also faced criticism when it emerged she was described as the Greens' Senate candidate on a party website that was partially funded by NSW taxpayers.
The revelations led to calls from the State Government and the Opposition for Ms Rhiannon to resign from State Parliament.
Federal Greens leader Bob Brown said he thought it would be wise for Ms Rhiannon to quit state politics immediately but the MP ignored the advice.
Mr Brown has stood by his advice today.
"It is Lee's call. She has decided to wait longer," he said. "My advice to her was we are in an election campaign now and she should get fully into that election campaign."
Ms Rhiannon says she has already acknowledged that she has made mistakes with some press releases and corrected them.
"There has been no cost to the taxpayer here," she said. "This is a Labor smear campaign."
The MP is planning to stand down as soon as the federal election is called.
