‘My reputation’s been smeared’: Sidelined sports minister off the bench after probe

Sidelined cabinet figure Tim Mander has been reinstated to his sport and Olympic portfolios less than two months after being referred to federal police over a voting enrolment probe.

Mander, referred by the Australian Electoral Commission over whether he falsely enrolled to vote at a staffer’s home while living elsewhere, stood down from cabinet after the development in late May.

The Australian Federal Police issued a statement on Thursday morning saying “no offence has been determined”. At a morning media conference, Mander said he had been vindicated.

“From the moment these first allegations were made, I maintained I have done nothing wrong,” Mander said. “I’ve maintained that particular position, from the very, very beginning.

“Over the last two months, [Opposition Leader] Steven Miles’ baseless allegations have meant I’ve paid a big price. My integrity’s been attacked, my reputation’s been smeared, my family’s been hurt.”

The government seized on the outcome to attack Labor for weaponising parts of the process with baseless allegations, with Mander saying he did not agree with the AEC’s call.

On 20 May 2026, the AFP received information from the Australian Electoral Commission relating to a Queensland politician. No offence has been determined and the AFP has finalised the matter.

Mander’s removal from the frontbench marked the first significant change to the Crisafulli LNP cabinet since it was sworn in after the October 2024 election.

Labor had also referred Mander and other government figures, including his partner – Child Safety Minister Amanda Camm – to the corruption watchdog over disclosures of their relationship.

After media reporting in May, the electoral commission looked into the claims after Mander himself – before referrals made and publicised by Labor – wrote to the state electoral watchdog to clear up the matter.

It then also looped in its federal counterpart, which ultimately referred Mander to police over an “absence of compelling evidence” to confirm Mander lived at the address.

In police correspondence to Mander late on Wednesday, seen by this masthead, he was told the Special Investigations Command to which the allegation of providing false or misleading information to a Commonwealth entity had finalised its work after “sufficient evidence was obtained to refute the allegation”.

Beyond the enrolment matter, the minister faced scrutiny following reports of a June 2025 letter to Crisafulli by Mander’s former sister-in-law that raised concerns about the use of public funds by Mander and Camm and the disclosure of their earlier affair.

Asked about the discrepancy between the bodies’ conclusions and what changed regarding the evidence, Mander deferred to the AEC and said he “never agreed with the AEC’s conclusion”.

But Mander declined to further outline what evidence was presented to each agency, saying he was drawing a “line in the sand” that he will no longer “be talking any further about my personal life”.

Appearing alongside Mander at parliament house, Deputy Premier Jarrod Bleijie – when asked if the electoral commission had got it wrong – accused journalists of being “hopeful of a different outcome” and said Labor had set a new standard for “gutter politics”.

Because of this, Bleijie defended his own airing of suggestions in parliament about a relationship between two Labor MPs – which they have denied.

“They’ve lowered the threshold. They want to play in the gutter, and we warned them that we would, too,” he said.

Speaking to media in Cairns, Premier David Crisafulli called on Miles to front media and be held accountable.

At a media conference in Gladstone, Miles called on Mander and the government to release what evidence they provided to the federal police as part of the probe “in the interests of transparency”.

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