Dr Mundy, who joined the EISS board in 2017, has defended the fund’s approach to spending members’ money in a series of internal emails last week, obtained by The Age and Herald, as well as Mr Hutchison’s role at the fund.

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“It has been a pleasure working with Alex during my time at the fund which I’m sure is a sentiment shared by many of you,” one of the emails said. “Since joining the fund in 2012, Alex has built a strong team and has done amazing things for members.”

Dr Mundy sat on EISS’s audit, compliance and investments committee and held a number of board positions including major power transmission company Transgrid, which has many current and former staff whose super is with a major employer for EISS. He also held several backroom roles on Labor Party committees.

Mr Roche was the trustee director of EISS Super, and similarly quietly resigned this week, cutting short his contract. He is also a non-executive director for banking giant Macquarie Group and Wesfarmers.

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The fund’s website was updated to show both senior employees as former directors. The resignations come as Liberal MP Tim Wilson this week said he would call EISS’s senior management before an economics committee to grill the fund’s expenses.

The executive overhaul also comes at a critical juncture for EISS’s merger plans with another fund TWUSUPER. A source familiar with the transport super fund’s thinking had said it would not go ahead with the merger if Mr Hutchison were to run the new entity.

A spokesman for TWUSUPER said on Thursday it had entered the merger negotiations because it would help members of both funds benefit from greater scale and give EISS members access to its investment performance.

“TWUSUPER is closely monitoring developments at EISS and will now assess the practical ramifications of changes in its board governance,” the spokesman said.