Date published: 13 July 2018

The Crime and Corruption Commission (CCC) has completed its assessment of the appointment process of Mark Algie to the board of Energy Queensland Limited (EQL) and has determined there is insufficient evidence to raise a reasonable suspicion that any person involved in the appointment engaged in corrupt conduct.

The CCC’s jurisdiction is limited to conduct that meets the definition of corrupt conduct in section 15 of the Crime and Corruption Act 2001. Without a reasonable suspicion of corrupt conduct, the CCC has no jurisdiction to investigate this matter.

In September 2017, the CCC finalised an investigation into Minister Mark Bailey’s use of a private email account. See previous media release.

The CCC identified at that time an email to the Minister’s private email account from the Electrical Trades Union attaching a copy of the resume of Mr Mark Algie.

The CCC noted that forwarding a resume to the Minister did not in itself raise a reasonable suspicion of corrupt conduct sufficient to enliven the jurisdiction of the CCC.

The CCC recently commenced an assessment to identify if the circumstances of Mr Algie’s appointment raised a reasonable suspicion that any person involved in that process had engaged in corrupt conduct.

The CCC also subsequently received complaints relating to this appointment process. 
To inform the assessment, the CCC requested a range of information from Queensland Treasury including correspondence, briefing notes, emails and other documents relating to the appointment, or recommendations for appointment, of the current directors on the EQL board including Mr Algie.

The CCC also requested information about any policies and procedures that govern the processes in relation to recruiting and appointing directors to the boards of Government Owned Corporations, including EQL.

Following an assessment of the material received by Queensland Treasury, the CCC has determined there is insufficient evidence to raise a reasonable suspicion that any person involved in the appointment of Mr Algie engaged in corrupt conduct.

Specifically, no evidence of a criminal offence or a disciplinary breach that would warrant dismissal was identified.

The CCC acknowledges the government of the day has the authority to recommend candidates for appointment to the boards of Government Owned Corporations.  However, following the assessment, the CCC is of the view the processes to identify and nominate candidates for board appointments of Government Owned Corporations lacks transparency and good governance. 

The CCC has written to the Under Treasurer at Queensland Treasury who manages these appointments recommending the policies and procedures be revised to improve transparency of these appointments in the future.

The CCC’s recommendations include applying the same process equally for all candidates and conducting due diligence checks before recommendations for appointment are progressed to Cabinet.

ENDS

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