CANBERRA: Queensland Ports Minister Mark Bailey has been reinstated after being stood down in July while the Queensland Crime and Corruption Commission (CCC) investigated whether or not his deletion of emails from a private account was corrupt.
There were claims at that time Mr Bailey may have deleted public records when he deactivated his private email account. The investigation found that 660 of the 1199 emails were public records and therefore, Mr Bailey could not “dispose” of them without the approval of the Queensland State Archives (QSA). However, because these public records were able to be recovered, and have now been recovered by the CCC with assistance from Mr Bailey, there had been no permanent disposal. The Commission found there must be a “permanency” to the disposal to be an offence, and there was no basis to pursue criminal conduct against Mr Bailey. State Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk announced the minister would return to his portfolio effective immediately.
