Queensland Energy Minister Mark Bailey referred to CCC over deleted private email account
Updated
Energy and Water Supply Minister Mark Bailey has been referred to Queensland's Crime and Corruption Commission over a private email account that has the Opposition questioning if he acted corruptly.
Mr Bailey deleted his private Yahoo email account after it emerged he had been lobbied about government business on it by the Electrical Trades Union (ETU).
The Australian newspaper reported the ETU communicated with the Minister through the account over the merger of Energy Super and Victoria's Equip Super.
Mr Bailey told Parliament he deleted the account to ensure he could only be contacted on his ministerial email account.
"The Premier raised with ministers in cabinet, including me, the matter in regard to personal emails," he said.
"Soon after — in response to that, to remove the possibility, because I do not have control over who emails me and there are a lot of people who have my address — I deleted the account so my only email account is my ministerial account," he said.
But the Opposition said the emails should have been preserved because they were public records of government business and the minister could have been in breach of the Public Records Act
It said the CCC needed to investigate if Mr Bailey had abused his position or acted corruptly by destroying the evidence.
In the letter to the CCC, Opposition Leader Tim Nicholls said: "Deleting emails which may be the subject to an RTI [right to information] Judical Review Application is a possible breach of that provision".
Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk asked her director-general to investigate the issue, but the Opposition criticised her for limiting it to Mr Bailey.
Mr Bailey told Parliament yesterday he had not been aware of a Right to Information request when he deleted the account, and said it was primarily used for personal and electorate emails.
A spokeswoman for Mr Bailey declined to comment on the CCC referral but said the Minister would fully cooperate with the investigation announced by Ms Palaszczuk.
The Opposition said according to the Yahoo website, Mr Bailey had 90 days to reinstate the account and asked Ms Palaszczuk if she would make him do it.
Ms Palaszczuk reiterated that she would await the outcome of her director-general's investigation.
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