Australian Education Union SA secretary Leah York resigns from Funds SA board, police investigating after second ‘shoplifting’ video emerges

Police have confirmed they are investigating after another video emerged from a union boss’s visit to a Mount Gambier clothing store.

The Australian Education Union will hold a crisis meeting on Thursday after CCTV captured SA branch secretary Leah York in an alleged shoplifting incident.

Police have confirmed they are investigating after Ms York was seen taking a knit jumper, worth more than $100, and a $280 handbag from Mount Gambier clothing store Lima & Co. No charges have been laid.

Further complicating matters for the union executive is the long-term personal relationship between Ms York and branch president Andrew Gohl.

Screengrabs from the video posted by Lima & Co.

Ms York on Wednesday resigned from her position on the board of Funds SA, which manages the superannuation of public sector workers, and is now facing calls to resign from her union job.

She visited the store on the afternoon of Tuesday March 7 while in the South-East for briefing sessions about the union’s enterprise bargaining campaign.

AEU SA Branch secretary Leah York with the orange jumper. Picture: Lima & Co / Facebook

Lima & Co posted a since-deleted video that captured Ms York taking a handbag off a display and putting it in her shopping bag, then immediately leaving.

She told The Advertiser she believed she had pre-paid for the handbag and, after seeing the video had been posted to Facebook, she contacted the store and paid the money owed.

Ms York described the incident as a “misunderstanding” over her need to urgently use the toilet, which prompted store owner Lisa Attard to review CCTV of Ms York’s entire time in the shop.

Ms Attard said she then discovered footage of Ms York picking up a second item – an orange knit jumper – before tucking it into her shopping bag and leaving without paying.

In a separate post that featured the second video, the store said there was about three minutes between Ms York first taking the jumper, then the handbag.

“This footage speaks volumes. You have impacted our staff greatly,” the post said.

Ms York, who makes upwards of $200,000 a year in her role as the union’s branch secretary, did not return calls on Wednesday. She has also deleted her Facebook page.

Asked whether he believed Ms York should stand down, Premier Peter Malinauskas said he did not know the particulars of the situation.

“Needless to say, clearly something peculiar has happened here and that’s up to Ms York to explain and account for whatever those actions were,” he said.

But opposition education spokesman John Gardner said Ms York’s position was now untenable, and she must resign.

“The video footage that‘s been released today is especially troubling,” he said.

“It is clearly inconsistent with the high expectations that we should have for anyone in such a position of authority and seniority.”

Mr Gohl directed inquiries to the branch’s vice-president, Jan Murphy, who issued a statement saying the union was taking the matter “very seriously”.

“We understand that members are very concerned, and we do not condone the apparent actions in the video,” the statement said.

“We are seeking advice and will be working with executive, our democratically-elected member representatives, to determine the next steps and guide the union.

“An urgent meeting of our executive has been called for Thursday evening.”