The LNP has called on the Palaszczuk Labor Government to provide a firm commitment on exactly when new public record laws will come to Parliament following the completion of public consultation on the Public Records Act review.
Dubbed the “Mangocube Laws”, the proposed changes will make the “deliberate attempt to delete records” an offence under the Public Records Act.
A CCC investigation was launched when it was found that Minister Mark “Mangocube” Bailey was using a private email account for official business, and then attempted to delete the account to avoid an RTI request.
Fiona Simpson said the Palaszczuk Labor Government had been dragged kicking and screaming to get to this point and now must follow through with legislative change.
“This review was first recommended by the previous State Archivist back in 2017. It took the Palaszczuk Labor Government 5 years to get the review started and then they sat on the report for 5 months before releasing it,” Ms Simpson said.
“These are not the actions of a government that wants to ‘let the sunshine in’. They are the actions of the Palaszczuk Labor Government that wants to protect their dodgy mates.
“Queenslanders aren’t going to forget about this review or the Mangocube saga that started it all.”
Ms Simpson said she expected only limited public feedback had been provided given the Palaszczuk Labor Government deliberately kept the review quiet.
“There was no media release to announce public consultation for the review, which is telling given this is a government that will issue a media release at the drop of the hat,” Ms Simpson said.
“They did not want Queenslanders to know that the review was happening because it would only remind people of the dodgy Mark ‘Mangocube’ Bailey saga.
“The Palaszczuk Labor Government must commit to a timeline and details on how they will deliver this critical integrity measure.
“It says everything you need to know about the Palaszczuk Labor Government that we have to call for openness and transparency on an integrity law.
“The Palaszczuk Labor Government have been in a wilderness of secrecy and dodgy deals for nearly a decade and have lost the true north of integrity.
“When governments give up on integrity they give up on governing for you.
“Queenslanders deserve better.”
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