Jacqui Lambie demands apology from One Nation senator who leaked her mobile number

Independent Senator Jacqui Lambie says she's copped a barrage of abuse from anonymous callers after One Nation Senator Malcolm Roberts shared her private mobile number on social media.

Jacqui Lambie Network Senator Jacqui Lambie in Senate chamber at Parliament House in Canberra, Monday, December 2, 2019. (AAP Image/Mick Tsikas) NO ARCHIVING

Senator Jacqui Lambie in the Senate chamber at Parliament House in Canberra. Source: AAP

Independent Senator Jacqui Lambie has demanded an apology from One Nation Senator Malcolm Roberts after he shared her private mobile number on social media, describing the move as “a whole new low”. 

“I want an apology,” Senator Lambie told ABC News Breakfast on Wednesday morning.

“You did the wrong thing, mate, you put my number up there. It is a really low act with what you've done with the heightened tensions going on out there and quite frankly, you disgust me.”

Senator Lambie said she was inundated with calls after Senator Roberts shared a screenshot of her number on his Facebook page following her opposition of One Nation's bill to ban vaccine mandates.

"They have ... no caller ID on, so they are quite disgusting ... swearing at me and calling me every word under the sun,” she said.

“It is not the Australian way and very uncalled for … being a politician you do get abuse at times and things like that, but to be smacked down like I was for most of the day yesterday, it was just disgusting.”

The Tasmanian senator said on Tuesday she often gave out her phone number to veterans struggling with their mental health who were often "on their last legs".

"Those veterans know they can call me any time of the day or night if they need somebody to listen to them," she said.

"It goes without saying it is completely unacceptable to leak other senators' personal contact details to the public, just because you don't like what they're saying."

Senator Lambie’s number was originally posted on Facebook by One Nation’s candidate in Tasmania, Steve Mav, before Mr Roberts re-shared it.
The screenshot - which has since been removed from the post - showed a text from Ms Lambie to a constituent who claimed to have found the number on Ms Lambie’s Facebook page.

It came after Senator Lambie gave a passionate speech on Monday, accusing One Nation of opposing vaccine mandates for "cash ... power .. and seats."
"Being held accountable for your own actions isn't called discrimination - it is called being a bloody adult," she said.

"You have the freedom to make a choice, but those choices have consequences."
Senator Roberts is yet to apologise for sharing Senator Lambie's mobile number. 

"We don't condemn publishing phone numbers that are private," he told the senate on Tuesday.

"Senator Lambie is running scared and playing victim and misrepresenting the circumstances."

In response to her claims, he shared screenshots on Twitter of instances when Senator Lambie shared her own number on Facebook - but these were from two years earlier.

"Jacqui Lambie is being dishonest, saying that her safety was threatened by the publication of her number," he wrote.

"But this number was published previously by Jacqui on her own Facebook page multiple times inviting people to contact her."


Share
Published 24 November 2021 9:47am
By Eden Gillespie
Source: SBS News



Share this with family and friends


Get SBS News daily and direct to your Inbox

Sign up now for the latest news from Australia and around the world direct to your inbox.

By subscribing, you agree to SBS’s terms of service and privacy policy including receiving email updates from SBS.

Download our apps
SBS News
SBS Audio
SBS On Demand

Listen to our podcasts
An overview of the day's top stories from SBS News
Interviews and feature reports from SBS News
Your daily ten minute finance and business news wrap with SBS Finance Editor Ricardo Gonçalves.
A daily five minute news wrap for English learners and people with disability
Get the latest with our News podcasts on your favourite podcast apps.

Watch on SBS
SBS World News

SBS World News

Take a global view with Australia's most comprehensive world news service
Watch the latest news videos from Australia and across the world