Ex-staff member of Transport Minister Corey Wingard wrote in resignation letter he made her feel unsafe, Labor says

An ex-staff member of Transport Minister Corey Wingard resigned with a letter that said he made her feel unsafe and she feared “physical harm”, Labor says.

A former staffer of Transport Minister Corey Wingard alleged in a resignation letter that he made her feel unsafe and she could not continue “for fear of physical harm and psychological distress,” the opposition claims.

In state parliament on Wednesday, Labor frontbencher Tom Koutsantonis produced what he said was a resignation letter from a former worker who had accused Mr Wingard of falsifying timesheets for his sister-in-law.

Both women worked in Mr Wingard’s electorate office.

No accusation of wrongdoing has been made against Mr Wingard’s sister-in-law.

Mr Koutsantonis also quoted an email he said was written by the worker that stated the alleged fraudulent timesheets related to Mr Wingard’s relative being improperly paid while on maternity leave.

Corey Wingard, Minister for Infrastructure and Transport, Recreation, Sport and Racing during Question Time. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Kelly Barnes

The letter and email were produced to back claims Labor made on Tuesday. Treasurer Rob Lucas told parliament the staffer resigned and made the claims after a “performance-management process” had begun.

He said the Department of Treasury and Finance, which oversees electorate office matters, deemed the allegations had “no basis” and was prepared to “defend them vigorously” if the worker took the matter further.

Mr Wingard reiterated that all hours worked by his staff were accounted for.

Mr Koutsantonis read the letter dated January 5, 2018.

“Your (Mr Wingard’s) behaviour towards me became increasingly intolerable after I subsequently refused to be a party to the dishonest practice of recording (Mr Wingard’s sister-in-law’s) time in a manner that did not accurately reflect the hours that she worked, including occasions when she did not work at all,” he read.

“The verbal and physical aggression I was subjected to on 20th of November (2017), witnessed by other staff members, have rendered an office environment in which I no longer feel physically safe and cannot return for fear of physical harm and psychological distress.”

Premier Steven Marshall again pointed to recent allegations against Labor MPs Jayne Stinson, Tony Piccolo and Katrine Hildyard about their behaviour towards staff.

“I have just heard about (allegations against other Labor MPs) that I will probably go into as soon as I have been able to finalise the issues with regard to this,” he said.

Meantime, Liberal MP Tim Whetstone claimed in parliament Mr Koutsantonis was aggressive in questioning of a public servant at a committee hearing last month and played a role in the staffer’s subsequent fainting collapse.

Mr Koutsantonis refuted the claims. Another source said Mr Koutsantonis was “calm and respectful” and his “questions were justified”.