Home Affairs requests the removal of board member

A joint statement has been issued by Home Affairs president Mary Lowe, vice president Marc Leadbeater and members Paul Le Pelley and Jeremy Smithies.

They said they made the request with deep regret.

'This is neither an outcome we wanted nor a decision the four of us have taken lightly,' they said.

'However, following public comments made by Deputy Oliver on social media last week, in which she stated that Law

Enforcement should not have carried out a drug-related search warrant and was also highly critical of the committee’s vice-president, we felt we had no alternative but to take this course of action in the interests of the services for which we are responsible.'

Home Affairs is responsible for crime prevention, law enforcement, including policing and customs, and justice policy.

Deputy Oliver has issued her own statement, saying she had given her all to the role in Home Affairs.

'I am baffled that States colleagues are having to spend time sorting out an internal committee matter at a time when we as an assembly are facing some of the biggest decisions in generations,' she said.

'I have always made clear that so long as cannabis remains a controlled substance the current law must be enforced. I have never tried to undermine the police in any way. Any suggestion that I have is simply untrue.'

The board said they felt their had no choice but to take this action.

'After discussing this at length with Deputy Oliver on more than one occasion, we believe it is an untenable position to have a committee member who has publicly criticised the actions of police officers carrying out their duties, combined with a breakdown in the trust and relationship with a fellow member of the committee caused by her public comments,' the board said.

'Questioning the validity of police actions, without knowledge of the facts, undermines law enforcement and adversely affects the essential trust and confidence that is needed between the committee and the services for which we are responsible. We are sorry that it has come to this but we felt we had no other choice.'