Transport Minister Corey Wingard cleared of bullying but accused of misleading parliament

Transport Minister Corey Wingard has been cleared of bullying claims made by the boss of Sport SA, but faces two fresh allegations he misled state parliament.

Transport Minister Corey Wingard and his staffer have been cleared of any wrongdoing in an investigation into bullying and intimidation allegations levelled against them.

Sport SA chief executive officer Leah Cassidy had accused Mr Wingard and his staffer of bullying and intimidation during a meeting in June.

The allegations were referred to the Public Sector Commissioner Erma Ranieri, who appointed an independent investigator to look into the matter and report back.

Premier Steven Marshall on Thursday afternoon told state parliament the investigation had concluded.

“Ms Ranieri has reported to me that, and I quote, whilst it is clear there was a tense atmosphere in the meeting, and that opposing views were aired, there is no evidence to suggest that anything which took place in that meeting amounted to behaviour that would probably be characterised as bullying or intimidatory behaviour, as has been alleged by Ms Cassidy,” he said.

Ms Cassidy said she had not received the inquiry report and declined to comment further.

It comes as Mr Wingard faces allegations that he misled parliament after Ms Cassidy signed a statutory declaration seemingly contradicting what the Gibson MP had claimed about a controversial briefing.

The accusation is one of two allegations of misleading parliament levelled at Mr Wingard by the opposition.

Mr Wingard has denied both claims, and the government has countered Ms Cassidy’s statutory declaration with one from the Recreation, Sport and Racing Department chief executive officer Kylie Taylor.

Labor has supplied The Advertiser with the statutory declaration, in which Ms Cassidy discusses being uninvited to an upcoming meeting during a phone call with Ms Taylor.

Ms Cassidy verified she made the declaration about the June meeting.

In the declaration, Ms Cassidy wrote that she had been “shocked” to receive a phone call from the department’s CEO on July 2 “indicating I should not attend an industry briefing called by the minister given my complaint to the minister regarding bullying and intimidation”.

Transport Minister Corey Wingard has been accused of misleading parliament. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Kelly Barnes

Labor MP Tom Koutsantonis. Picture: Tom Huntley

“I asked (the CEO) if this instruction had come from the minister’s office to which she replied ‘yep’. When asked why, (she) indicated ‘the minister, the minister’ … there was a view it was in the best interest I didn’t attend.”

In an estimates hearing in state parliament on Tuesday, August 3, Labor MP Katrine Hildyard asked Mr Wingard: “Did you instruct the Office for Recreation, Sport and Racing chief executive to tell the Sport SA chief executive not to attend an online Covid-19-related meeting of stakeholders shortly after the CEO made a complaint about you and your chief of staff’s behaviour?”

Mr Wingard replied: “The answer to the question is no”.

On Wednesday, Mr Wingard was asked if he or anyone in his office instructed the department boss to uninvite Ms Cassidy to the briefing.

“Ms Cassidy had lodged a complaint and my chief of staff did advise me that it would be best, to protect everyone, not to have her attend and in fact have someone else from Sport SA to attend that meeting whilst that matter was being sorted out,” Mr Wingard said.

“I took that advice and that was what proceeded.”

The government has supplied The Advertiser with a statutory declaration signed by Ms Taylor, that stated “I did not, at any time, either in the phone call of the 22 July or in the meeting of 28 July say that the request came from the minister, because it did not”.

Labor has also accused Mr Wingard of misleading parliament on another occasion this week when answering questions about allegations of falsifying timesheets.

Sport SA CEO Leah Cassidy. Picture: Bianca De Marchi

On Tuesday, Labor asked Mr Wingard if any of his electorate staff had ever alleged to him that hours worked by his sister-in-law, who had worked in his office, were being fraudulently recorded on time sheets for payment of hours and days not worked.

“Not to my knowledge, no,” Mr Wingard replied.

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

Mr Koutsantonis on Wednesday then produced a resignation letter from a former worker who had accused Mr Wingard of falsifying timesheets for his sister-in-law.

Mr Wingard said stood by his statements in parliament, saying he made it “really clear” that he did not direct the department CEO to uninvite Ms Cassidy to the briefing.

“I was really clear that I did not direct that - my chief of staff did,” he said.

Mr Wingard also said his statement in relation to his knowledge about any allegations of falsifying documents were accurate.

“I said not as far as I’m aware - I can’t remember every email that might have been sent to me four, five, six years ago,” he said.

“From my recollection I wasn’t aware of that and I stand by that.”

Labor MP Tom Koutsantonis said Mr Wingard had “serious questions to answer”.

“In estimates, Minister Wingard told the parliament he didn’t instruct his Office of Recreation Sport and Racing (CEO), Kylie Taylor, not to invite Ms Cassidy to an online Covid-19 briefing – then yesterday he told parliament the exact opposite,” he said.

“The two answers cannot stand and the minister must tell parliament which statement is true, because both can’t be right.”

Mr Koutsantonis said in the past that “previous ministers who have been found to have misled parliament have been left with no choice but to resign”.

It comes after a former staffer of Mr 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 claimed.