Editorial: Premier must apologise, release emails, engage Archivist

Premier Annasctacia Palaszczuk cannot claim ignorance in her breach of email rules, and three things must now happen, writes the editor.

It is now clear why Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk refused to sack minister Mark Bailey in 2017 over his use of a personal email account to conduct public business: Ms Palaszczuk, it seems, used a private account for work purposes around this same time.

Mr Bailey breached the Queensland Ministerial Handbook and the Ministerial Information Security Policy by sending 1199 emails on his now rather infamous [e-mail] account. For this alone he should have been sacked.

Mr Bailey’s attempt to then delete the account after his office received a Right to Information application concerning the emails should have made his exit from Cabinet a forgone conclusion.

However, what a sticky situation Ms Palaszczuk would have found herself in had she had sacked Mr Bailey only for it to emerge later that her private email address had also inappropriately used.

The Premier insisted in State Parliament in 2017 that she’d never used her personal account for official purposes.

That increasingly looks to be a stretch.

First, it was revealed by the Opposition back in December that Mr Bailey sent an email in 2015 to Ms Palaszczuk’s private account [e-mail] questioning whether a candidate for a senior public service role was the right ideological fit for the new Labor administration.

A Right to Information officer from Ms Palaszczuk’s department has since inexplicably come to the conclusion that the email conversation between the Premier and Mr Bailey was party political so therefore not accessible.

But the Crime and Corruption Commission’s Alan MacSporran appears to be of a different view, saying on Friday that the exchange between the pair had a component of government business.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk defends her private email use yesterday. Picture: Jono Searle/NCA NewsWire

From the perspective of many Queenslanders,this whole business over the Premier’s use of private email a few years ago may seem trivial.

Who hasn’t used private email for work on occasions, right?

It is important because proper processes ensure transparency and accountability.

Ministers and other public officials are required to use official accounts to conduct their work because it all gets captured under the Public Records Act.

That in turns means correspondence can be obtained by authorities and released through RTI – a system of forced disclosure that (when applied as per its intention) helps ensure officials act appropriately.

Using a private account should be a serious offence because it circumvents the integrity dragnet.

Mr Bailey claimed naivety when he was caught out that as a new cabinet minister he had failed to get himself across the rules.

Ms Palaszczuk has no such excuse.

She had been a cabinet minister in the Bligh government, as well as a long-serving political operative, before becoming premier.

She should have been well abreast of the requirement to use an official account.

While she was sending emails from her private account, Ms Palaszczuk was also the keeper of the Cabinet Handbook, which contains all the rules about how ministers are expected to operate.

And so three things must now happen.

First, Ms Palaszczuk should apologise to Parliament for claiming her private email was never used for public purposes.

Second, the matter should be referred to the State Archivist to ensure all the emails that are public records are retained.

Third, the Premier should release all the emails deemed public records so Queenslanders can form their own view about her correspondence.

The Premier needs to accept some responsibility and finally bring this political scandal to an end.

CARE, DIGNITY AND RESPECT

In two years of investigations, the Aged Care Royal Commission shocked those Australians lucky enough to not have to deal with a system that operated in a permanent state of crisis.

Others, with relatives in care, would have been unsurprised by tales of abuse, neglect, of untrained staff, of mistakes issuing medication.

But now is the time not for outrage, but action. The momentum from the report must be used to drive through change.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison yesterday pledged an extra $452m a year for the sector. That’s the easy bit.

Recommendations must be acted on, and a new system based on care, dignity and respect must be created.

Responsibility for election comment is taken by Chris Jones, corner of Mayne Rd & Campbell St, Bowen Hills, Qld 4006. Printed and published by NEWSQUEENSLAND (ACN 009 661 778). Contact details are available here.