Senate president Scott Ryan says a male Parliament House security officer told a young woman to remove her union T-shirt in the middle of the public foyer because it was "protest paraphernalia" that could "be used to disrupt the order of the parliament".
Apprentice Jasmyn Smith, 21, told BuzzFeed News she was shocked when an officer asked her to take off the shirt she was wearing, which featured a small Communications, Electrical and Plumbing Union logo, last Wednesday.
The male guard specifically told her and the group of young apprentices she was with that union material was banned from Parliament House.
After BuzzFeed News published details of the incident, Ryan said he would investigate, noting that there is a general “no slogans” policy in Parliament House.
On Tuesday afternoon Ryan told the Senate he believed the guard correctly assessed the clothing as "protest paraphernalia" that could "be used to disrupt the order of the parliament".
The Department of Parliamentary Services concluded that the male officer acted in a "professional and courteous" manner during the incident.
Ryan said:
I am advised that on June 19, a protest organised by Unions ACT was conducted on the Authorised Assembly Area within the Parliamentary Precinct.
On June 20, I am advised a PSS [Parliamentary security staff] officer noticed potential protest material or paraphernalia being taken into the building through the Main Front screening point by a small group. The PSS officer spoke to a pass holder and the visitors who owned the material before contacting the team leader.
One of the visitors was carrying a poster that was promptly passed to the pass holder who accompanied the group.
The clothing worn by the visitors displayed material related to the demonstration of the previous day.
After speaking with the PSS officer, the team leader took into account these matters and made an assessment that their clothing was potentially protest paraphernalia. The clothing in question contained more than a small logo.
Where a personal assessment is made that an item of clothing worn by a person may be protest paraphernalia, they are requested to cover it, change the item, or turn it inside out.
The team leader approached the visitors and requested that clothing displaying protest material be covered, changed or turned inside out. The team leader suggested to the group that they could use the nearest bathrooms for changing purposes. After some discussion the visitors appeared to comply before leaving the area.
I am advised the PSS team leader was asked if his decision was because their clothes displayed union logos.
The team leader explained displaying a union logo was not the issue, the issue with the clothing was the slogans and images contained on the clothing.
From the inquiries made as a result of this question and the media report, the department has determined that the manner in which the relevant security service team leader addressed this situation was professional and courteous.
As is evident from the many union representatives that attend Parliament House on a regular basis, there is no policy precluding access by association, nor does the policy prohibit the display of logos.
"All people entering Parliament House are subject to security procedures and prohibited items are not to be brought into Parliament House. Items that might cause danger to people or damage property, might be used to disrupt order or decorum, or compromise security arrangements must be cloaked before entering into Parliament House."
Prohibited items include weapons, aerosol or paint cans, laser pointers and "obvious" protest paraphernalia.
"Protest paraphernalia including clothing with specific messages, if allowed into Parliament House may depending on the circumstances have the affect of bringing the protest into Parliament House and can be used to disrupt the order of the parliament."
Ryan said Operating Policy & Procedures 10.5 notes that if a person is found inside the building with a prohibited item, security staff can ask that person to hand over the item.
Leader of opposition business Penny Wong told Ryan that Labor would be making further inquires as a number of the claims made in his statement contradicted those made by the young apprentices.
The officer assessed the young apprentices were wearing "protest paraphernalia" similar to the clothing worn at the Change the Rules protest against wages and working conditions held by ACT unions outside Parliament House the previous day.
Smith, a third-year electrical apprentice from Launceston, gives a different series of events.
She says she arrived at the public entrance to Parliament House with some 20 apprentices from around the country on Wednesday morning, to speak to politicians for National TAFE Day. They entered the building in small groups, many wearing clothing, badges and backpacks with the CEPU or Electrical Trade Union logo.
But only Smith and the group of five apprentices she was with were approached by a security guard as they were standing in the Marble Foyer and were told to take off their union clothing.
Smith told BuzzFeed News:
We had walked through security at the public entrance and were waiting in the main foyer. A security guard came up and said: "Sorry, you can't wear union shirts here you need to take them off." He specifically spoke to me and straight up said: "You need to take that off," referring to my jumper, which says CEPU Tasmania. I said that I had a CEPU shirt on underneath and he said: "You'll have to take that off as well." I said, "I can't." He said: "Take it off and turn it inside out." I said, "I can't really take it off," because we were surrounded by people. He pointed and said I could go over to the side of the foyer. He was pretty aggressive and he specifically said "no union". I didn't know what to do until someone gave me their jacket to put on and cover up my shirt.
Smith said the male guard specifically told the group that union material was banned from Parliament House.
This is despite earlier groups of apprentices entering in CEPU and ETU clothing, and Australian Manufacturing Workers' Union officials wearing union shirts around the building earlier in the week.
"He pinpointed us; he walked straight to us," she said. "He was abrupt ... and I know if we didn't take our shirts off there would be an issue."
Smith said the group walked past a number of security guards outside and inside the building, but only one officer singled them out.
Mark Burgess, the national apprenticeship officer with the ETU, was accompanying the group and was also asked to remove two badges with the union's logo. He refused, but was still permitted to enter the building.
"It's not campaign material; it's not offensive; it's our logo of our business," Burgess told BuzzFeed News.
"And where we're from, if someone from Apple came in, wearing an Apple logo, are they going to tell them to take their shirt off?" Smith added.
BuzzFeed News spoke to a number of unions that said staff routinely wear clothing emblazoned with union logos in Parliament House, and that they don't know why this group was targeted.
@sallymcmanus @workmanalice Somewhat thrilled now that I managed to wear my #PASA union tie in #APH on my last visit. https://t.co/Rv0hpasWYm
This wasn't the first time someone has been asked to remove an item of clothing in Parliament House.
In 2015 a journalist was told to remove his T-shirt (emblazoned with the famous New York Post headline "Headless body in topless bar") by parliament security officers as it was deemed "offensive".
The Department of Parliamentary Services, which manages the security staff at Parliament House, did not answer BuzzFeed News' questions seeking clarification on the rules around clothing and whether union material is banned within the house.