Palaszczuk bans ministers from using private email

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has banned her ministers using back-channel emails for their work.

Queensland MP Mark Bailey speaks to the media yesterday. Picture: AAP

Queensland’s embattled minister Mark Bailey is still refusing to release hundreds of secret emails with union mates as the Palaszczuk government yesterday announced long-awaited bans on ministers using back channels in their work.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said her ministry would be prohibited from using private email accounts, Facebook Messenger, Snapchat, Wickr or Whats­App when carrying out their portfolio duties.

The rules were proposed by the Crime and Corruption Commission after it was revealed last year that at least five ministers — including Mr Bailey — had been using their private email accounts in their work.

Ms Palaszczuk, who has supported Mr Bailey’s refusal to voluntarily release more than 1000 work-related emails on his private account, said previous rules banning back-channel correspondence with stakeholders were inadequate.

“I think it was a bit unclear. I think this is a very clear line in the sand and everybody has now been briefed,’’ she said.

Mr Bailey also faced a corruption probe last year after he ­deleted his private email account — [e-mail] — effectively blocking access by The Australian under state Right to Information laws.

A subsequent release of emails under RTI, covering just seven months, showed he had personally intervened in wage disputes and industrial relations matters at the request of Electrical Trades Union officials.

At one stage, Mr Bailey received and forwarded a CV of an executive, sent to him by ETU ­officials, who was later appointed to the Energy Queensland board and oversaw the delivery of a generous wage deal.

Mr Bailey — a former long-time member of the ETU — again yesterday refused to voluntarily release the remaining emails and has insisted that public access to the material must be vetted under the RTI.

The emails that were released last month followed a year-long RTI fight by The Australian, and it was later discovered that Mr Bailey was the decision-maker in ­deciding which emails were released.

Outside of a caucus meeting, Mr Bailey claimed his secret correspondence with ETU officials was a “rookie mistake’’ but made no apology for his apparent willingness to implement all of the ETU’s secret demands.

“I absolutely am sorry for making the mistake of using my private email,’’ he said.

“It was a first-term minister mistake from a rookie MP.

“I have already released a considerable number of my emails through the RTI process and I ­believe there is a number of RTI applications in.’’