Yahoo Finance Frank Zumbo was investigated for alleged bullying while working for South Australian government
Frank Zumbo, federal MP Craig Kelly’s office manager, was the subject of bullying allegations during his tenure as deputy commissioner of the South Australian small business commission.
The commission – a small unit of nine people – was established in 2012 by the then Labor state government to assist small businesses and advise on regulation. Zumbo was appointed as deputy in 2012, on a $50,000 contract employed one day a week.
He left in late 2015 or early 2016, after three years. During his tenure the Guardian has heard claims that at least one staff member was relocated to another job and received compensation, as a result of what Zumbo called “unfounded bullying allegations”.
The latest revelation follows a separate investigation involving several young women, some as young as 16, coming forward to allege inappropriate behaviour, including unwanted touching, by Zumbo in Kelly’s electorate office under Zumbo’s management.
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Although police have confirmed there is an ongoing investigation into those allegations, no charges have been laid against Zumbo and he has denied wrongdoing.
Zumbo began as a volunteer with Craig Kelly’s first election campaign in 2010 but became office manager in 2015 or 2016 (Kelly cannot say for certain) and remains employed by the controversial MP despite the prime minister, Scott Morrison, requesting that he end his employment.
Kelly resigned from the Liberal party last week. Morrison said in parliament he had “long made” his views about Zumbo known to Kelly.
Zumbo led the South Australian commission’s office briefly before a new commissioner, John Chapman, was appointed and he returned to being the deputy.
A former staff member who has spoken to the Guardian claims Zumbo raised his voice at staff and made unreasonable work demands of them. The former staff member said they made multiple complaints.
The Guardian understands these were first made to the SA public service commissioner, Erma Ranieri. The complaints were taken to a special agency and to HR staff in the SA Department of State Development. They were later handed to the SA solicitor general.
The staff member, who cannot be named because of a confidentiality agreement, claimed that Zumbo had yelled at him for an hour at a time about staff performance. He alleges Zumbo accused the staff of “running a coup” and dismissed their complaints as being without foundation.
Zumbo denies the allegations of bullying and unreasonable behaviour.
He told the Guardian he had already resigned from the commission for unrelated reasons before any bullying allegations were put to him.
“I resigned to take up employment with Mr Kelly and my resignation was to avoid any conflict between being an independent statutory officer in SA and an office manager in a federal parliamentary office,” he said.
“A period of time after my resignation, unfounded bullying allegations were put to me and I sought to vigorously defend them, but I was denied access to vital documents that would support my defence of the bullying allegations, as well as substantiate the various performance issues I had raised.”
At least one staff received payments after taking action against the SA government over the work environment, the Guardian has been told.
Around the same time, two women in Craig Kelly’s electorate office complained to Comcare alleging bullying and intimidation by Zumbo. These were reported in the Sydney Morning Herald in late 2014. SA officials were aware of the issues in New South Wales in late 2014 when Zumbo was still employed at the commission.
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The women, both in their 60s, worked for Kelly for between three and four years before the government workers’ compensation body concluded in September they had suffered psychological injury from their perceived treatment in the workplace.
One staffer described a “persistent feeling of intimidation [and] hurtful remarks” and threats to her job.
Neither woman has accused Kelly of any wrongdoing but say they clashed with Zumbo who was also employed at the time as an associate professor at the University of NSW business school.
The University of NSW said Zumbo left the university in 2015 but it did not comment on former staff due to privacy reasons.
Upon learning of the complaints in NSW, Chapman, the newly appointed SA small business commissioner, reportedly said in 2014 that Zumbo had his full support regarding the matter and commended him for his “instrumental” work in setting up the SA office.
“He has been very up front with (the claims). I have been aware of that issue in NSW, he has talked to me about it and it doesn’t impact on anything he does in South Australia,” Chapman said.
When asked comment, Kelly said: “My understanding was that Mr Zumbo resigned from his role with the SA government, before taking up employment in my office to avoid any potential conflicts of interests.”
