Scrutiny shifts to Annastacia Palaszczuk in Transport Minister Mark Bailey’s mangocube saga

MARK Bailey has earned himself a new nickname in political circles of late as he continues to keep his ministerial job amid the continuing saga over his private email use.

• LNP wants Bailey ethics referral
• Bailey refuses to clarify ETU link
• Minister’s private emails released

MARK Bailey has earned himself a new nickname in political circles of late as he continues to keep his ministerial job amid the continuing saga over his private email use.

Mangocube Mark – in reference to his oddly named private email account [e-mail] – has been superseded by Teflon Mark.

Mr Bailey continues to have a seat at the Cabinet table thanks to the Crime and Corruption Commission’s finding he did not engage in corrupt conduct via the use of the private ­account and its temporary deletion.

But his actions are now impacting on the person who gifted him that job in the first place, Annastacia ­Palaszczuk.

Queensland Transport Minister Mark Bailey. Picture: AAP/Darren England

Last month Mr Bailey repeatedly refused to answer questions over whether a taxpayer-funded job had been given to the man whose resume had been forwarded to him by the Electrical Trades Union via a back channel account.

The approach was revealed in emails released under Right to Information from his mangocube account.

He received the CV and sent it on to his office.

When an answer is not given to a question like this, it usually means that answer is yes.

And in this case a job was indeed granted. It was an Energy Queensland board director job given to Mark Algie, a HR consultant and News Corp Australia employee.

Mr Bailey’s refusal to answer meant the responsibility then fell on the Premier to come clean for him.

And she was besieged by the issue this week, both inside and outside the parliamentary chamber.

Ms Palaszczuk too initially refused to say if a job was granted. Then she appeared to say she would. And then she refused again.

She then insisted she did not know and did not need to know because the CCC had found no corruption had ­occurred.

Most people would be uncomfortable with the idea any stakeholder was using a backchannel email account to suggest – and successfully endorse – their pick for taxpayer-funded positions.

They would also expect that a Premier who had campaigned on transparency and accountability would want her Government to be open and transparent about an issue like this.

They would expect her to at least investigate the issue for herself, ­previous CCC probe or not.

Instead, the Government only came clean once journalists had tracked down the man involved. Labor then went to great lengths to point out Mr Algie was a suitable candidate already on their radar, ETU recommendation or not.

And the admission did not come from Mr Bailey. Instead it came from his successor as Energy Minister, ­Anthony Lynham, who had nothing to do with the appointment at all.

Mr Algie has said he did not ­officially apply for the job. He has also said he did not know the ­specifics of what the ETU was recommending him for. But he got the job anyway.

There’s an old adage in politics that it is not what they say, it is what they do.

The Premier needs to keep walking the walk when it comes to her accountability and transparency pledge.

And she needs to ensure her ministers do the same