NSW Liberal MP Peter Sidgreaves faces bully claims on poll-eve

A former staffer has accused MP Peter Sidgreaves of bullying, threatening her employment and acting inappropriately.

Alex Carne and her daughter Cleo. Ms Carne has alleged Camden MP Peter Sidgreaves threatened her employment and acted inappropriately around her.

A former Liberal staffer has accused Camden MP Peter Sidgreaves of bullying, threatening her employment and acting in­appropriately towards her, claiming the party and NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet paid “lip service” to her claims.

On the eve of the state election and with the Liberals at risk of losing Camden, Alex Carne said in an interview with The Australian that she had been belittled, undermined and gaslighted by her former employer.

She accused the Premier of falling short of his rhetorical standards on women’s issues.

The seat of Camden, in southwest Sydney, has become a last minute target for Labor, with One Nation’s primary vote cannibalising the Liberals’ primary vote, eating into Mr Sidgreaves’ 7.3 per cent margin. Mr Perrottet visited the electorate on Tuesday in an effort to sandbag his MP.

In an email to Ms Carne on June 23 last year – the basis for her complaint to the Liberal Party lodged in November last year – Mr Sidgreaves accused his staffer and her sister, Camden councillor Lara Symkowiak, of trying to branch-stack against him.

Ms Carne said she had been unfairly targeted by her former boss after rumours began circulating that her sister would run against him in a preselection tilt for the seat, which eventuated in Ms Symkowiak’s unsuccessful attempt to topple Mr Sidgreaves.

The correspondence came months after a conversation in February, recorded by Ms Carne in a contemporaneous note, where Mr Sidgreaves allegedly warned his staffer she would be out of a “well-paying job” if Ms Symkowiak won the preselection battle against him.

“He told me if she does run against him, obviously I would be without a job. He went on to say that if Lara did, everyone in the office would be without a job,” she wrote on February 1.

“I’ve hardly spoken to my family all night. I’m so rattled. I just had a shower and got out and started having a panic attack. I feel so helpless and downtrodden, I have felt physically sick since it happened and still do.”

In a statement, Mr Sidgreaves said: “I strongly deny these politically motivated and defamatory allegations.”

He has previously claimed his comments were not intended as a threat but rather a factual statement that Ms Carne would be unable to continue in her role, given rules preventing MPs hiring family. The Australian is not suggesting the allegations against Mr Sidgreaves are true, only that they have been made.

In mid-February, The Australian revealed the Liberal Party was probing the “deeply troubling” allegations against Mr Sidgreaves, but party president Maria Kovacic said claims the party had done nothing were inaccurate.

The investigation established by Liberal Party HQ into Ms Carne’s allegations of branch-stacking and bullying found the latter to be unsubstantiated; and while accepting Mr Sidgreaves communications were inappropriate and issuing the MP with a warning, found he did not intend to threaten his staffer.

“I just feel I’ve been given lip service at times. It’s not been taken seriously, they’ve said one thing in writing and their actions backing that up,” Ms Carne said. She said the process and outcome of the investigation demonstrated Mr Perrottet had decided to back his MP, despite demanding cultural change after the release of the Broderick report last year.

“It’s very clear the Premier supports Peter, and that this behaviour, how I felt and what I’ve been put through is OK,” she said.

In response to questions, a Liberal Party spokesman said: “The NSW Liberal Party conducted a thorough and robust investigation of claims relating to party matters, which found no evidence to substantiate the claims.”