The controversy surrounding Peta Credlin, Tony Abbott's strong-minded chief of staff, was perhaps the biggest political story of 2015. Such ructions around the staff of political leaders are not unusual though this one was distinctive because of its high intensity and leadership fall-out. Wherever you go in Parliament House, big parties, small parties or independents, political staff are at the centre both of parliamentary efficiency and political outcomes.
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There are a lot of them, of course, many multiples of the actual front men and women, the MPs and ministers themselves. Recently, publicity has been given to the seven staff members of each Senate cross-bencher, a special government deal, and to the 23 members of staff in the office of Greens' leader, Richard di Natale.
In the latter case, attention has focused on staff turnover in a pressure-cooker environment and led to di Natale issuing an explanatory statement in which he made the plausible point that "most new leaders build their own team" and that this involves putting his own stamp on a new group led by a former NSW State Greens MP, Kate Faehrmann.
That a former MP holds such a position is not unusual either as political staff include many former and aspiring MPs. That adds to both the parliamentary efficiency and the politics. Several defeated Liberal MPs were offered staff positions after the recent federal election.
Studies have shown that among MPs and ministers there is a concentration of former staffers. Serving as a staffer is an avenue into the parliament, a place not just to serve and to gain experience but one in which to build networks and to get noticed by party power-brokers.
The politics of staffers applies not just to the big parties, of course. For micro parties and independents, staffing can be particularly important and often problematic. Unlike the bigger parties there is not an obvious talent pool among party membership waiting to be drawn upon.
In the recent history of minor parties, staff have played a central role. In the Australian Democrats, it was commonplace for political staff to have their own political aspirations and several graduated to become MPs. One of the most famous Democrats leader, Natasha Stott Despoja, first came to Canberra as a very young staffer. Earlier Janine Haines had been a staff member to Liberal Movement leader, Steele Hall. It was also common for staffers to hold administrative positions within the party and as the Democrats fell from grace, the problem of staffers exercising organisational power contributed to tensions within the party.
The same has been the case with the Greens as senior staff became in effect MPs in waiting and the office became a warehouse of talented individuals with their own political aspirations. Former leader Christine Milne once served as a staff member for Greens leader Bob Brown.
As the Palmer United Party careered out of control during the last parliament, battles over staffing played a part. Senator Glenn Lazarus had employed his wife as his chief of staff. When Clive Palmer exercised his authority as party leader to sack her, Lazarus left the party.
The decision of another former cross-bencher Senator John Madigan to leave his micro-party, the Democratic Labor Party, to become an Independent also contained a staffing element. He parted ways with his chief of staff who remained with the party and later entered the Victorian Parliament as a DLP representative. The position of the staff member was caught up in battles between the senator and the party organisation.
The current cross-bench contains various examples of how staffing politics plays out. One approach is to keep them close. The best example comes from Nick Xenophon's NXT party. He chose his candidates from among his staff, including new senators Stirling Griff and Skye Kakoschke-Moore. Undoubtedly Xenophon learned from observations during his time in the SA and federal parliaments.
Former senator Bob Day also had a tight team within the Family First party. His chief of staff, Rikki Lambert, was also his No 2 candidate in the 2016 Senate election and his choice to succeed him when he was forced to resign. This plan was caught up in intra-party politics typical of micro-parties as Lambert was challenged by a Family First MP in the South Australian parliament. At issue was Day's ideological legacy and hold on Family First representation.
Pauline Hanson's One Nation Party had staffing problems when she first entered federal parliament 20 years ago. John Pasquarelli became a celebrity in his own right as the "man behind Hanson". Now her chief of staff is James Ashby, previously staff member to former Speaker Peter Slipper. His allegations brought about Slipper's downfall amid court appearances and charges of conspiracy.
Ashby brings experience but lots of baggage which could help unsettle his new party. Already tantrums and conflict between staffers have played their part in the tension within One Nation.
There are many aspects to the role staffers play. Any study of the cross-bench during the Abbott and Turnbull governments must recognise the day-to-day benefits that good staffing plays in building bridges to the Government and Opposition. Sage advice and good connections are invaluable.
But poor staffing can be destabilising. Staff have both party and personal baggage as well as their own agendas. When relations between staff break down it can infect the whole parliamentary party.
Political staff are like the canaries down the coal mine so far as Parliament House is concerned. When staff relations are smooth then things are usually in order but when staffing starts to become political it can signify a toxic environment among MPs.
John Warhurst is an emeritus professor of political science at the Australian National University.
