Premier Will Hodgman has put the ball squarely in Braddon Liberal MHA Adam Brooks’ court in regards to the long-running audit of his email accounts.
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Mr Brooks’ ministerial career was interrupted in 2016, when it was revealed he had used a former business email account while serving on the frontbench.
He was compelled to relinquish his ministerial portfolios of mining, racing and building and construction, after giving incorrect answers in an estimates hearing about the account before correcting himself.
An email audit has long been flagged, with Mr Brooks relegated to the backbench until such time as the audit is completed.
But Mr Hodgman told a budget estimates hearing on Monday that the Crown Solicitor would not undertake an audit of Mr Brooks’ emails until some of the MP’s “personal affairs” had been resolved.
Mr Brooks recently went through a divorce, which was believed to have hindered the audit process.
Despite the fact the divorce had been finalised, Mr Hodgman said there were still issues preventing the audit from going ahead.
“This matter, until it’s resolved, will have Mr Brooks not hold a position within government other than where he currently is,” Mr Hodgman said.
Opposition Leader Rebecca White asked the Premier if there was anything else “holding up” the audit.
“Those are matters for Mr Brooks,” Mr Hodgman said.
He said the Crown Solicitor would still be the one conducting the audit.
Opposition finance spokesman Scott Bacon, who originally brought the email saga to light, has said the email audit’s purpose would be to determine whether or not Mr Brooks had had a conflict of interest.
Mr Bacon previously said the audit was designed to understand if the former minister had “an active role in a major mining business while serving as Tasmania's mining minister”.