Mining Minister Adam Brooks has resigned from cabinet just four months after he was appointed.
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Mr Brooks said he decided it would be in the best interests for the government for him to resign from cabinet, following consultation with his family.
He was forced to correct the record in a budget estimates hearing last week, after he repeatedly denied he used a company email.
Mr Brooks later clarified he used an activated Maintenance Systems Solutions email account for non-business reasons only.
He was stood down from ministerial duties on Friday, with Premier Will Hodgman requesting Crown Solicitor Alan Morgan audit the email account.
Mr Hodgman said Mr Morgan’s audit would still go ahead despite Mr Brooks’ resignation.
Mr Brooks will remain in Parliament and said he was hopeful of returning to cabinet once a divestment of his business interests had taken place.
“It’s been a privilege to serve as a cabinet member of the government and I look forward to returning at some point, however I accept the perception of a conflict of interest has become a distraction to the government’s agenda and I certainly take that into account to ensure the government continues to head in the right direction,” he said.
Mr Brooks said it was “certainly my intention at the moment” to recontest his seat at the 2018 election.
“I love being a MP, I’m committed to the team, I love being in cabinet but ultimately… family is the number one priority and it will be a decision as I made before the last election, we’ll sit down and make a decision as a family about what’s best for us,” he said.
Mr Brooks said the end of his marriage contributed to his decision to resign from cabinet.
He stressed he did not knowingly mislead Parliament.
“I’d been questioned ad nauseum about conflicts of interest and operation involvements. During that question I interpreted that it was just a continuation of that line of questioning and that meaning of direct involvement in day-to-day operations and impacting on my decisions as a minister,” he said.
“Once I realised I had made a mistake I corrected the record as soon as possible.”
Mr Hodgman said no new faces would be appointed to the cabinet, with Rene Hidding set to be sworn in as Mining Minister.
Jeremy Rockliff will return as Racing Minister, with Peter Gutwein to take on Building and Construction.
Mr Hodgman was firm he had not guaranteed Mr Brooks a return to cabinet, stressing an “extremely complex” divestment process and Mr Morgan’s audit needed to be completed before any decision was made.
Opposition Leader Bryan Green said Mr Hodgman had failed by refusing to sack Mr Brooks.
“For four days now the Premier has refused to act when it was clear to all Tasmanians that Mr Brooks had been caught red-handed,” Mr Green said.
“Every Tasmanian who has seen the vision of Mr Brooks lying to the hearings, including the Premier, understood that his position was untenable.”
Greens leader Cassy O’Connor said Mr Hodgman had “let [Mr Brooks’] dishonesty pass without comment or condemnation”.