Tasmanian MP Adam Brooks tried to cover up mining emails, Integrity Commission report finds

UPDATED: Adam Brooks repeatedly lied to the Premier and deliberately deleted emails that proved he was still involved in a company with mining interests while he was mining minister, an Integrity Commission investigation has found.

UPDATED: ADAM Brooks repeatedly lied to the Premier and deliberately deleted emails that proved he was still involved in a company with mining interests while he was mining minister, an Integrity Commission investigation has found.

The Commission found the Braddon Liberal MHA’s conduct did not constitute a material conflict of interest as defined in the Ministerial Code of Conduct.

However, Premier Will Hodgman on Tuesday relieved Mr Brooks of his Government Whip role and pledged that he would not return to Cabinet for “the foreseeable future”.

“Mr Brooks has already paid a very heavy price for his actions,” Mr Hodgman said.

Mr Brooks resigned from the mining portfolio in June 2016 after repeatedly telling Denison Labor MHA Scott Bacon he did not use an email account related to his company, Maintenance Systems Solutions, which he and the Premier had previously used as evidence of his experience in the mining sector. The company consults on asset management and maintenance to industries including the mining sector.

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When Mr Brooks was offered a Cabinet position in February 2016, he was reportedly told he had to divest himself of his business interests or the portfolio would instead be handed to Lyons Liberal MHA Guy Barnett.

Mr Brooks told the Integrity Commission he “turned green” at the thought of divesting from the multi-million dollar company he founded but did so because he was “absolutely committed” to entering Mr Hodgman’s Cabinet.

He then undertook to divest himself of MSS, the Integrity Commission found. However, he continued using his MSS email account, including to provide operational advice to the people handed the reins to the company, the report said.

Late on June 9 and early on June 10, after correcting the record and clarifying in Parliament that he did use his MSS account for personal matters, Mr Brooks deleted a “significant number” of emails, the Commission said.

This was done out of concern his private emails would be used by the Opposition or exposed in the media, he told the Commission. The Integrity Commission agreed he was worried about the impact on his personal life as he was part-way through a divorce at the time.

However, Mr Brooks was also motivated by fear about his political career and not all of the emails deleted were related to private matters, the Integrity Commission said.

Adam Brooks continued to be involved in his mining services business while mining minister, an inquiry has found. Picture: NIKKI DAVIS-JONES

On June 14, 2016, Mr Brooks suggested to Mr Hodgman that the Government audit his emails but failed to disclose that many had been deleted.

And those deleted emails — eventually unearthed by the Integrity Commission with the help of Microsoft — showed Mr Brooks “did not remove himself from all MSS management and operational decisions and he still participated in MSS operational decisions”.

The Integrity Commission’s investigation, referred by former Labor leader Bryan Green in late 2016, published on November 21 and released on Tuesday, did not recommend the Government take any particular course of action.

Mr Brooks has taken indefinite medical leave but released a statement acknowledging the Integrity Commission report but not agreeing with all of its findings.

“I believe that I complied with the Protocol that was put in place to manage conflict of interest issues,” Mr Brooks said.

“In saying that however, with the benefit of hindsight, I do recognise on reflection that there are matters I could have handled better. I have accepted this and as appropriate, apologised to the Premier in relation to this.

“While I am pleased with these findings, I do disagree with some suggestions within the report, and I have some difficulty accepting several subjective findings on whether or not I had properly advised the Premier on some matters while a Minister.“

The most recent disclosure log showed Mr Brooks still held shares in MSS.

Labor and the Greens on Tuesday accused Mr Hodgman of losing control of his Government.

The findings against Mr Brooks followed revelations now Resources Minister Sarah Courtney breached the Ministerial Code of Conduct in failing to disclose an affair with her former department head for about one month and Speaker Sue Hickey last week repeatedly crossing the floor to vote with Labor and the Greens on legislation to reform laws relating to transgender Tasmanians.

Mr Hodgman said his focus was on governing and ensuring his team did “what’s expected of them”.

“When that is not the case there will be consequences, as there has been,” Mr Hodgman said.

EARLIER: ADAM Brooks continued to be involved in his mining services business while mining minister, and deleted emails proving this partly out of concern it could hurt his political career, an Integrity Commission report has found.

The Braddon Liberal MHA resigned from his ministry in June 2016 after misleading Parliament about the use of his MSS email account.

The Intergrity Commission found in the same night Mr Brooks misled Parliament, he accessed, collated, forwarded and deleted MSS emails, informing only his business manager of his actions.

In the two years since Mr Brooks stepped down from his ministry he has blamed divorce proceedings for holding up his ability to hand over the MSS emails.

The Integrity Commission report found not all of those withheld emails related to personal issues.

This was motivated by genuine concerns about his family’s privacy and private business information, the report said.

“However, the investigation also found that Mr Brooks was motivated by a concern that the MSS emails had the potential to cause him political damage,” the report said.

Mr Brooks has released a statement acknowledging the findings but disagreeing with some of the Integrity Commission findings.

“While I am pleased with these findings, I do disagree with some suggestions within the report, and I have some difficulty accepting several subjective findings on whether or not I had properly advised the Premier on some matters while a minister,” Mr Brooks said.

The Integrity Commission said Mr Brooks’s actions did not amount to a conflict of interest under the Ministeral Code of Conflict.

“However, the investigation concluded Mr Brooks gave inaccurate written assurances to the Premier about his compliance with the protocol, and failed to advise the Premier of the nature of his involvement with MSS when the Premier was relying on Mr Brooks’ advice and updates,” the report said.

Premier Will Hodgman said: “I am, however, very disappointed at his failure to fully adhere to the robust protocols that were put in place to prevent any perception of a conflict.

“While the divestment of his business, his relationship breakdown and subsequent divorce proceedings were no doubt very challenging for Mr Brooks, his actions in regards to complying with the protocol, as detailed in the Integrity Commission’s report, were very disappointing and fell short of my expectations.”

EARLIER: ADAM Brooks continued to be involved in his mining services business while mining minister, and deleted emails proving this partly out of concern it could hurt his political career, an Integrity Commission report has found.

The Braddon Liberal MHA has released a statement acknowledging the findings but disagreeing with some of the Integrity Commission report.

The commission said Mr Brooks believed he had no material conflict of interest when he continued to be involved in the operation and management of his mining company MSS while minister, and it did not amount to a conflict of interest under the Ministerial Code of Conduct.

“However, the investigation concluded Mr Brooks gave inaccurate written assurances to the Premier about his compliance with the protocol, and failed to advise the Premier of the nature of his involvement with MSS when the Premier was relying on Mr Brooks’ advice and updates,” the report said.

Mr Brooks found and deleted emails from his MSS account when questioned about his involvement in Parliament. This was motivated by genuine concerns about his family’s privacy and private business information, the report said.

“However, the investigation also found that Mr Brooks was motivated by a concern that the MSS emails had the potential to cause him political damage,” the report said.

The Premier will address the media shortly.