Mark Bailey quits Queensland cabinet before he can be sacked in impending reshuffle

Former Queensland transport minister Mark Bailey. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Tertius Pickard

• By LYDIA LYNCH

  QUEENSLAND POLITICAL REPORTER

  and MICHAEL MCKENNA

  QUEENSLAND EDITOR
• 6:44PM DECEMBER 13, 2023
• 11 COMMENTS

Queensland Transport Minister Mark Bailey has resigned from cabinet before he could sacked as part of a frontbench reshuffle by incoming premier Steven Miles.

Mr Bailey, who in 2017 was suspended from cabinet during a corruption investigation, has faced escalating criticism this year for overseeing multibillion-dollar blowouts on major road and rail projects.

While outgoing Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk had refused to sack the trouble-prone minister, Mr Miles was understood to be preparing to move him to the backbench at the behest of numerous MPs.

Factional negotiations have been raging since Ms Palaszczuk's resignation on Sunday over the make-up of the new cabinet, which is expected to be sworn in on Monday.

Several well-placed sources told The Australian this week that Mr Bailey was certain to be the first cabinet minister axed in the overhaul. “If Bailey is not removed from cabinet, there will be a revolt,” one Left faction MP said this week.

On Wednesday afternoon, Mr Bailey issued a statement saying he would quit the frontbench to “support the promotion of one of our many talented younger Labor MP’s”.

His office said he would “absolutely” still contest the October 2024 election.

Earlier this week, Sport Minister Stirling Hinchliffe, who will retire at next October’s state election, said he did “not expect a position in a renewed cabinet”.

Mr Bailey was stood aside from cabinet in 2017 after the Crime and Corruption Commission found he had raised a “reasonable suspicion of corrupt conduct” when he destroyed work-related material from a private “mangocube” email account.

The CCC probe started after it was revealed by The Australian that Mr Bailey deleted his private email account after receiving a Right to Information request seeking correspondence with union bosses.

The watchdog found Mr Bailey had breached the Ministerial Handbook by using his private account for official business, and was “foolish”, but he was not criminally charged because the deleted emails were eventually able to be retrieved.

The then-CCC chair Alan MacSporran said Mr Bailey was “incredibly lucky” not be facing charges.

Mr Bailey has recently come under fire for keeping huge cost escalations on the Gold Coast Faster Rail and the state’s flagship train manufacturing program secret from taxpayers.