Editorial: Private emails the thin edge of wedge

If the state government wants to restore its reputation around integrity and transparency it must eradicate the use of private emails for public business, writes the editor.

One of the great things about democracy is the way the Fourth Estate can shine a light on wrongdoing and make the world a better place.

We saw it with Tuesday’s verdict in the Chris Dawson murder case, where the voracious reporting of The Australian’s Hedley Thomas exposed serious failings in the original police investigation.

His subsequent podcast The Teacher’s Pet asked so many questions and raised so many red flags that it sparked a fresh probe, and the subsequent arrest and conviction of Dawson for murdering his wife Lyn 40 years ago.

This pursuit of the truth and justice is why The Courier-Mail has so doggedly and determinedly pursued the Palaszczuk Government on its obsession with secrecy.

We exposed the original secret email scandal, where Transport Minister Mark Bailey used private emails to conduct official government business with a senior union official.

Public Works Minister Mick de Brenni was also among senior government figures named for using private emails to conduct official business after a 2017 report by former state archivist Mike Summerell.

Mr Summerell’s view was that Mr Bailey’s actions were likely to have resulted in multiple breaches of the Public Records Act, however, the Crime and Corruption Commission found “no evidence” to suggest he wanted to “conceal corrupt conduct”.

Mr Bailey, of the powerful Left faction, kept his $350,000-a-year job, but the saga did force Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk in 2018 to introduce new ministerial guidelines banning the use of private email accounts for ministerial business.

Ministers Mick de Brenni (front) and Mark Bailey

More recently we revealed that Mr de Brenni’s senior staff have been conducting official QBCC business on the private email account of its chair Dick Williams.

The emails were provided under one of three separate LNP Right to Information requests, which have highlighted Mr Williams’ “fondness” for using his private email address, despite having an official QBCC account.

A fundamental tenet of the Westminster system of politics centres on the need for Cabinet ministers, board representatives and senior bureaucrats to be transparent and act with integrity, in the conduct of any government business.

Using private emails to correspond with unions or board members by ministers or their staff is simply wrong.

Such practices also stop reporters and opposition MPs from tracking down information that should be within the public realm.

Throughout the integrity crisis that has beset this government is an overwhelming belief that it hides behind obscure confidentiality clauses and “commercial in confidence’’ excuses.

We’ve heard whistleblowers refer to a culture where ministers and their staff are told not to communicate via email for fear it will land in the lap of a nosy journalist, through an RTI request.

It is also worth noting that while the CCC has pursued councils, sacking both Ipswich and Logan, nobody at state level has faced any real censure on integrity-related matters such as using unauthorised emails for government business.

If this government wants to restore its reputation around integrity and transparency it must eradicate the use of private emails for public business.

And on that basis, those around the QBCC must be the first port of call for sanctions.

QUARANTINE CUT WELCOME

Cutting the mandatory home quarantine period if you have Covid-19 from seven to five days is another victory for commonsense as we slowly but surely emerge from this three-year pandemic.

While we all still need to apply our own commonsense and stay away from people if after five days we are still symptomatic, the reality is that Covid is now pretty well endemic – and that means it is time we all got on with our lives, free from government-mandated impositions on what we can do.

Lockdowns served us well when Covid was even more deadly and most of us were unvaccinated but those days are behind us. Mask mandates are also thankfully a thing of the past. But it’s not all bad if wearing masks and staying home when sick are among the things we have learned from this pandemic.

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 here