Michelle Landry

Bullying allegations

In November 2014, Landry claimed she had been the victim of bullying and intimidation by representatives from the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU). Landry also said that her daughter and son-in-law were subject to harassment while living in Blackwater, a coal mining community west of Rockhampton, during the 2013 Federal Election campaign. Landry alleged that CFMEU representatives had approached her daughter at the Blackwater bank where her daughter was employed. Landry said that her daughter and son-in-law decided to quit their jobs and leave Blackwater as a consequence.

Landry said she had not made an official complaint about the alleged harassment with police or the union, fearing that any such complaint would exacerbate the problem. The allegations prompted the CFMEU's district president, Stephen Smyth to demand Landry apologise to union members and Blackwater residents, and described the allegations as baseless. Smyth said the union was offended by Landry's comments as it fights against bullying on a daily basis. He said that if she had any evidence, she should have taken it to the police.^[4][5][6]

'Wishy Washy' comments

In April 2016, Landry drew national attention when she attempted to communicate her belief that the Federal Government's messages were not being communicated effectively enough, and said that the public was perceiving the government's communication as being "a little wishy washy". Many misunderstood her comments, and assumed she meant the government's performance was "wishy washy". Her comments prompted both Prime Minister, Malcolm Turnbull and National Party leader, Barnaby Joyce to defend the government's performance. Turnbull said he wanted to advise Landry to be more upbeat about what the government had achieved, while Joyce said that the government was not "wishy washy" on things like border protection and defence spending.^{[7][8][9][10][11][12]}