Police union presidential candidate Wade Burns resigns as chair of Basketball SA following bombshell assault allegations aired in parliament

A senior cop running for president of the state’s police union has resigned as the chair of the Basketball SA Commission after allegations were aired in parliament.

Police union presidential candidate Wade Burns has resigned as chair of the Basketball SA Commission in the wake of bombshell indecent assault allegations – which were the subject of a criminal investigation that was later abandoned.

In a statement issued late Tuesday, Basketball SA chief executive Tim Brenton said the commission held a scheduled bi-monthly meeting on Monday.

“At the commencement of the meeting, the commission accepted the resignation of Mr Wade Burns,” he said.

“Basketball SA acknowledges Mr Burns for his contribution to South Australian basketball.”

It came as South Australian sport Hall of Famer Jenny Williams withdrew her support for Mr Burns’ campaign for president of the Police Association of South Australia (PASA).

His campaign site – which still features glowing endorsements from Mr Brenton and Woodcroft College principal Shannon Warren – had also featured a contribution from Ms Williams, a highly respected sportswoman and psychologist who was in 2022 awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia for her services to women’s sport.

Jenny Williams OAM has withdrawn support for Mr Burns’ campaign for president of PASA. Picture: Russell Millard

A now-deleted endorsement from Jenny Williams OAM that appeared on the campaign site of Wade Burns. Picture: Supplied

Her endorsement said she met Mr Burns when she was an organisational psychologist and member of PASA, and described him as “driven, purposeful but caring in his approach to his work”.

But it was quietly deleted from the site on Monday, hours after Ms Williams was contacted by The Advertiser. She did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

Under parliamentary privilege last week, independent MLC Frank Pangallo said Mr Burns – the son of former police commissioner Gary Burns – was demoted from chief inspector to senior sergeant in 2017 after it was claimed he indecently assaulted a then-civilian female SA Police employee at a social function.

Current deputy president of PASA, Wade Burns, is running for president. Picture: Brenton Edwards

Mr Burns told union members in a subsequent memo that his misconduct “was not – nor was it ever – a criminal matter” but Police Commissioner Grant Stevens said SA Police’s Internal Investigation Section did commence a criminal investigation after allegations were received.

Mr Stevens said the matter was not referred for prosecution on the wishes of the alleged victim, and Mr Burns may not have been aware that a criminal investigation was commenced. He was later reinstated to the rank of inspector.

Basketball SA chief executive Tim Brenton. Picture: Supplied

Woodcroft school principal Shannon Warren. Picture: Supplied

In addition to his roles at SA Police and PASA, Mr Burns is chair of the council of Woodcroft College in the southern suburbs.

An endorsement authored by Ms Warren said Mr Burns was “an outstanding and visionary leader”.

“Wade leads by example, demonstrating not only what it means to be an effective leader but also a compassionate and empathetic human being,” she said.

Ms Warren has failed to respond to questions about the endorsement, instead referring the matter to the college council.

Deputy chair Stephen Branch said: “this matter is currently being considered by the college council. The college has no further comment at this time”.

Mr Burns has been contacted for comment.

Originally published as Police union presidential candidate Wade Burns resigns as chair of Basketball SA following bombshell assault allegations aired in parliament