Racing Minister Madeleine Ogilvie has acknowledged she knew TasRacing chief executive Paul Eriksson had been sacked five days before she issued a press release stating he was moving to Sydney "to spend more time with his family".
The concession comes after months of public appearances where Ms Ogilvie claimed the statement was reflective of what she had been told by the organisation about Mr Eriksson's departure and refused to answer questions about whether she was aware of the sacking prior to issuing it.
The new information has led to Labor claiming it demonstrates Ms Ogilvie "misled" the Tasmanian public and the parliament and should resign.
Ms Ogilvie told a government business enterprise scrutiny hearing in November — where it was revealed Mr Eriksson had been sacked — that her statement he had left to spend more time with his family was a "reflection of what I was advised" by TasRacing.
'I'm a stickler for process'
In a statement to the ABC later that day, Ms Ogilvie said Mr Eriksson's departure was a matter for TasRacing, but her statement was a "reflection of what TasRacing had published and communicated to me at the time".
But under questioning from Labor in parliament on Wednesday, Ms Ogilvie said she was informed Mr Eriksson was set to be sacked on July 1, five days before she issued the statement.
Mr Eriksson was told of his termination on July 4, with TasRacing and Ms Ogilvie putting out near-identical statements about his looming departure on July 6.
Mr Eriksson left the organisation on July 8.
"What I will say is I'm a stickler for process. TasRacing is an independently owned organisation; the state government owns it," Ms Ogilvie said in parliament.
"I'm a portfolio minister and a shareholder minister; I'm prevented from reaching into operational matters; employment matters are operational.
Ms Ogilvie did not respond to questions about whether she had misled parliament.
Opposition racing spokesman Dean Winter claimed Ms Ogilvie had both admitted that she "lied" in the statement and "misled parliament".
"The minister lied to the public and to the parliament. It is not sustainable for the government or the racing industry that she continues in the role," he said.
"She should resign, or the Premier should sack her."
Asked if Ms Ogilvie had misled parliament, Premier Jeremy Rockliff dismissed the matter as "grubby politics".
"They [Tasmanians] don't care about the grubby politics of parliament, they care about the fact that we're delivering services into our schools, our hospitals … employing more paramedics, ensuring we get more allied health professionals into our system as well, and other areas of concern to them," he said.
Eriksson departed following culture review
TasRacing chair Gene Phair told November's parliamentary hearing that a decision to terminate Mr Eriksson's contract was made in June, two months after a workplace culture review delivered a damning assessment of the organisation's leadership.
The survey of TasRacing employees revealed less than 20 per cent of them thought its executive team "leads well and leads by example", while fewer than a quarter thought it created "a positive and constructive workplace culture".
Mr Phair said Mr Eriksson met with the board to set out his "road map" for the future following the review.
"We asked the CEO for the consideration and a presentation to the board for what that road map would look like, and the board decided that the road map didn't meet the expectations for the board, so the employment was terminated," he said.
"The board at the time decided that the pathway forward that had been presented to the board wasn't satisfactory."
Mr Eriksson is now the chief executive of Racing Australia.
