Energy Minister Mark Bailey deletes private email account

Queensland Minister Mark Bailey has sabotaged the public release of secret correspondence with union bosses.

Queensland Energy Minister Mark Bailey. Picture: Liam Kidston.

Queensland Energy Minister Mark Bailey has sabotaged the public release of secret correspondence with union bosses about a now-abandoned $13 billion superannuation fund merger — by deleting his private email account.

Despite being rebuked by Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk about the use of his private email and her concerns it undermined “firm record-keeping’’ of ministers’ dealings with stakeholders, Mr Bailey dismissed calls for the release of the correspondence and then deleted the account.

As a cabinet minister, Mr ­Bailey had regularly used the private email account — [e-mail] — to correspond with ministerial staff and stakeholders, including on sensitive cabinet matters.

• UPDATE: Bailey says why he deleted his private email account

An application by The Australian for the release of the correspondence under Right to Information laws was rejected last week on the ground the minister’s email account “had been closed’’.

“As a result of the deactivation of the email account, a search of the email address could not be under­taken,’’ the RTI officer said.

“Accordingly, no responsive documents were identified or ­located in response to the scope of your RTI application.’’

In a one-line statement last night, Mr Bailey confirmed he had deleted the account following the matter being raised by the Premier at a January 23 cabinet meeting — four days after The Australian had formally lodged its RTI application.

“Soon after the Premier raised it at cabinet, I considered the matter and decided to delete the ­account,’’ he said.

It was revealed last month that Mr Bailey was secretly lobbied by Electrical Trades Union boss Peter Simpson in November over his concerns about a proposed merger of Queensland’s Energy Super — which covers state-owned energy companies — and Victoria’s Equip Super.

The partly leaked correspondence shows Mr Bailey, a veteran member of the ETU, was con­tacted on his private email address by Mr Simpson over concerns the union’s position on the board of Energy Super might not be secure under the proposed merged fund.

At the time, a spokesman for Mr Bailey said the minister would not release the correspondence. This month Energy Super released a statement confirming the merger had been abandoned.

University of Queensland professor of law Graeme Orr last night said the email account should have been maintained by the minister.

“Under the Public Records Act — and the Premier’s edict — records related to a minister’s portfolio are to be kept. An energy minister’s email exchange with a union lobby over a sectoral fund is a ‘ministerial record’.

“Those records are only to be destroyed when stale, and then with the say-so of the Archives and department head.”

Last month Mr Bailey issued a statement saying he had had the email account for “around 20 years’’ and encouraged people to avoid using the account if it related to his role as a minister in the Palaszczuk government.

Mr Bailey did not respond to questions yesterday.