This was published 7 years ago
MP Mark Bailey will not face criminal prosecution for deleting emails
By Felicity Caldwell
Queensland government minister Mark Bailey will not face criminal charges over his deletion of a private email account.
The crime watchdog confirmed on Friday morning it would not prosecute Mr Bailey for the use of his mangocube6@yahoo.co.uk email account and deletion of public records.
The CCC will not prosecute Mark Bailey over his deletion of a private email account.
That was despite the Crime and Corruption Commission finding earlier this year he raised a "reasonable suspicion of corrupt conduct" in deleting work-related emails and deactivating the private account.
He was saved because the deleted emails were able to be recovered.
The CCC found 1199 records in Mr Bailey's email account were considered public records but 660 could only be disposed of with authorisation by the State Archivist, which did not give permission.
In a statement, the CCC said the word "dispose" was not specifically defined in the Public Records Act but after legal review it believed there must be a permanency to the disposal of public records to constitute an offence.
"Considering the public records contained in Mr Bailey's private email account were able to be recovered, and have now been recovered by the CCC with assistance from Mr Bailey, there has been no permanent disposal," the CCC said.
"Therefore, there is no basis to pursue criminal conduct against Mr Bailey for the disposal of public records contrary to section 13 of the PRA."
The maximum penalty for disposing of public records without permission is a fine of more than $20,000.
The CCC said the use of the personal email account was not a criminal offence but it breached the Ministerial Handbook and Ministerial Information Security Policy.
The saga was sparked after it was revealed Mr Bailey deleted the email account, following reports he was contacted at that address by the Electrical Trades Union over the merger of Energy Super and Victoria's Equip Super.
An application for the release of correspondence under Right to Information laws was rejected on the grounds the minister's email account was "closed".
Mr Bailey then announced he would reactivate the account, before the LNP referred the matter to the CCC.
An earlier review by the CCC did not find any evidence to support allegations Mr Bailey used the personal email account to engage in negotiations with the ETU that would amount to corrupt conduct.
Mr Bailey said he deleted the account because he could not control who contacted him via the account, and he said he did not know about the RTI request.
On Friday, the CCC said it acknowledged the timing of the deactivation of the private email account around the time of an RTI request by The Australian raised questions about Mr Bailey's intentions.
"However, the CCC has reviewed the content of all the emails retrieved from the email account and has found no evidence to suggest the intention of Mr Bailey in deactivating the account was to conceal corrupt conduct made out by the content of any email," the watchdog said.
"In those circumstances there are no grounds to pursue a criminal offence against Mr Bailey for his use of the private email account or his management of public records in that email account."
The CCC said it was confident the decision to reactivate the private email account served the public interest, led to the recovery of a large number of public records and helped the investigation.
CCC chair Alan MacSporran said he had a strong view it was undesirable for MPs or their staff to use private email accounts for parliamentary business, or for anyone in the public service to use private emails for official business, as their use - and deletion - could give rise to a perception it was done for corrupt purposes.
The State Archivist made several recommendations about the creation, maintenance and disposal of public records by ministers.
Mr Bailey was stood aside as a minister in July, pending the outcome of the State Archivist and CCC investigation, with Treasurer Curtis Pitt and Environment Minister Steven Miles taking on his portfolios temporarily.
Whether he would resume his ministerial duties was yet to be announced.
Mr MacSporran was due to address media on Friday, and Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk was also expected to release a statement.
Deputy Premier Jackie Trad welcomed the CCC's findings and said Mr Bailey was an incredibly effective and diligent minister.
"I look forward to Mark returning to the cabinet, if that is the Premier's wish," Ms Trad said.