Election 2022: Nationals minister Andrew Gee accused by staff of ‘bullying’

A former staffer for Andrew Gee lodged a formal complaint against him with the Finance Department alleging ‘intimidation’, ‘bullying’ and ‘aggressive behaviour’.

Veterans’ Affairs and Defence Personnel Minister Andrew Gee. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Gary Ramage.

A former staffer for Veterans’ Affairs and Defence Personnel Minister Andrew Gee lodged a formal complaint against him with the Finance Department alleging “intimidation”, “bullying” and “aggressive behaviour”.

An investigation by The Australian can reveal the Nationals member for Calare, in eastern regional NSW, is facing serious allegations he bullied and intimidated his staff dating back to his time as assistant minister to the deputy prime minister in 2019 and beforehand.

The “Bullying and/or Harassment – record” lodged with the Finance Department in late September 2019 noted the complainant – whose identity is known but has been redacted – said she and other staff members had experienced bullying and harassment.

In the complaint record, the Finance Department noted the staff member had “advised that she had been experiencing bullying and harassment from the member (Mr Gee) for some time – in the form of intimidation, ­aggressive behaviour (such as slamming doors), (and) laughing at policy advice being provided”.

“She also advised that staff in the office were on ‘eggshells’ because of his behaviour. Other staff have reportedly experienced and witnessed this behaviour. The (staff member) advised that staff in the office arranged for the member’s wife to … talk through strategies,” it said.

Speaking to The Australian on the condition of anonymity, the former staffer said Mr Gee’s treatment of his staff had worsened over several years working for him, resulting in the staff member being prescribed anti-anxiety medication. “Over that time he had become increasingly difficult to work with. He literally had a desire, it seemed, to have total control, power and dominance over those like who he believed to be underneath him,” the former staffer said.

In response, Mr Gee said he always treated his staff with respect and was “saddened to learn that someone who once worked for me would not feel that way”.

“I am not aware of any complaint ever being made to the Department of Finance (or any other department) and I have never been contacted by that department or any other agency in relation to any such matters,” he told The Australian.

“I deny the claims. All the staff who work and have worked in my ministerial and electorate offices have worked incredibly hard and … I express my gratitude to them at every opportunity.”

Despite the former staffer raising concerns over Mr Gee’s behaviour directly with the chief of staff to then deputy prime minister Michael McCormack on October 31, 2019, the Calare MP was promoted to Regional Education and Decentralisation Minister in February 2020.

“It speaks to the exact issue of what’s going on at parliament, that everything is swept under the rug. He was promoted into a position of power,” she said.

Mr McCormack said: “No ­allegations of that nature were ever raised with me.”

The former staffer decided against progressing the complaint after being informed it would involve mediation with Mr Gee. The complaints process, she said, was “skewed” towards the MP or minister because the “power was with him” and would “determine how that complaint was dealt with”.

The former staffer did, however, reach out to Mr Gee’s wife, Tina, to intervene and resolve her husband’s alleged mistreatment of his staff. “She said that she was going to speak to him over the weekend, which she did … he came into the office on Monday and we had this kind of weird staff meeting where he didn’t really acknowledge the issue but just said he was really grateful for us.”

One of Mr Gee’s former electorate officers, who agreed to speak only on condition of anonymity, said they had been “absolutely humiliated” and felt “worthless” after the Calare MP gave them a complete dressing-down after they had made a mistake. “He was intimidating. He was an angry person. He was extremely degrading and belittling. I mean, not only do I think he was a bully. I also believe he was very aware of his behaviour. And I think that he was aware of the effects it was having on his staff.”

The former electorate officer said they also spoke to the Department of Finance a “few times”, but opted against making a formal complaint.

During supplementary Senate estimates hearings in mid-February, the departments of Veterans’ Affairs and Defence were asked by late Labor senator Kimberley Kitching about the treatment of departmental staff who rotated through Mr Gee’s office. Veterans’ Affairs took the question on notice, later providing a written response: “For privacy reasons it is not appropriate to comment on the relationship between ministerial offices and individual DVA staff.”

After almost three months, Defence has still failed to respond. Defence also declined to respond to questions from The Australian.