Attorney-General Deb Frecklington has dismissed Labor calls for the State Archivist to probe a former LNP minister’s use of a private email address in a new handpicked commissioner role.
Andrew Cripps’ use of a private email account in the initial period of his appointment as Special Commissioner for Rural and Regional Queensland emerged under Labor questions during Tuesday’s session.
Department of Premier and Cabinet director-general Damian Walker said the issue had only come to the government’s attention in recent days, and had occurred because of the contact Cripps received before getting an official account.
Asked by Labor MP Mark Ryan on Friday if she would ask the State Archivist to investigate whether all appropriate actions had been taken by Cripps around the emails to his private account, Frecklington suggested the matter had been “completely covered” on Tuesday.
Justice Department director-general Sarah Cruickshank asked for a breakdown of the extended CFMEU inquiry’s now-quadrupled $95 million budget, said she was unable to provide one.
“The budget that you’ve referred to is completely in the domain of the commissioner and the commission, and I don’t have visibility of any of those things,” she said.