Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk snaps at reporters over private email scandal

‘If you have an allegation, put it to me!’ Annastacia Palaszczuk erupted on Monday as she was quizzed on an issue that just won’t go away.

The Queensland Premier snapped at reporters on Monday during a tense encounter over the content of her private emails, currently being scoured by the state’s corruption watchdog, as the issue continues to fester.

Annastacia Palaszczuk has been grilled for months about the use of private address [e-mail] to conduct work in her public role after it was revealed the Premier received a private email from Transport Minister Mark Bailey back in 2015 discussing the political ideology of a potential director-general appointment.

On Friday, the Crime and Corruption Commission revealed Ms Palaszczuk also used another email, [e-mail], to communicate with Mr Bailey.

Commission chair Alan MacSporran said it could be argued the emails were used for a “component of government business” and the use was “frankly inappropriate”, though he said the nature of the emails doesn’t warrant a full investigation.

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk had a tense press conference on Monday morning. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Jono Searle

Ms Palaszczuk was peppered with questions about the use of the private email addresses in parliament last week, and the barrage continued during a photo-op at a construction site for the underground rail network on Roma Street in Brisbane.

A clearly exasperated Premier snapped when asked if she was tired of the ongoing email “mess”.

“I don't believe there’s a mess at all, everything that has been done has been done,” Ms Palaszczuk said.

“There's a process here, it goes through the RTI (Right to Information) and all of them have been retained so if you have an allegation, put it to me.

“If you have an allegation, put it to me,” she again repeated. “What is your allegation?”

She was then asked why there were two email addresses.

“There were just two so …”

And the meaning behind the cryptic email name apbounce11?

“I don‘t know,” she said. “I don’t know what it means.”

Ms Palaszczuk has denied wrongdoing over the use of private emails and reiterated that the RTI process determined none of the emails need to be released.

She initially told parliament in 2017 her private emails weren’t used for public office matters but admitted on Monday the political persuasion of the potential director general appointee was discussed over email with the now Transport Minister.

Ms Palaszczuk suggested the discussion was irrelevant because the candidate was appointed to the role regardless.

“A person's political ideology was sent from Minister Bailey to myself,” she told reporters.

“That email is actually saying basically maybe he shouldn't be appointed.”

“So what's your point? What’s your allegation?”

Queensland Leader of the Opposition David Crisafulli says the premier is being “dodgy”. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Dan Peled

Opposition Leader David Crisafulli said in a press conference immediately after that the refusal to release the less than 20 emails in question was “dodgy”.

“The Premier said if there’s an allegation to put it to her,” he said.

“Well we allege there are things in those emails she doesn’t want Queenslanders to see, and that is dodgy.

“Everybody in the state deserves answers and the behaviour that was just witnessed at that press conference suggests to me that this is an issue we must continue to pursue.”

Ms Palaszczuk attempted to deflect away from the emails and on to the LNP, following an investigation published in The Courier-Mail on the weekend that uncovered deep instability in the wake of the opposition’s heavy state election loss in 2020.

“If you want to keep going on about five or six years ago, we’ve had all this turmoil in the LNP over the last three days,” she said.

“What questions are being put to the LNP about the complete divisiveness that has occurred in their party?”

Mr Crisafulli was asked to respond to allegations in the reports, which included problematic ties to controversial billionaire Clive Palmer and backroom powerbrokers “baying for blood” after the election loss.

“That’s for me to sort out and that’s for me to fix,” the opposition leader said before making the staggering concession that previous leader Deb Frecklington’s tenure was undermined by party powerbrokers.

He said he intends to deal with the figures in the LNP causing the instability.

“You’ve got to be able to govern yourself to make yourself fit for office and then you can govern a state.

“I have to make sure there’s trust and I have to make sure people know their roles and responsibilities.

“I will be judged on how successful I am on this … I intend to reform my party.”