A BIT RICH
TAXPAYERS FUND BROOKS’ LEGAL FEES
TAXPAYERS have reimbursed former mining minister Adam Brooks almost $60,000 in legal costs he incurred during the Integrity Commission investiga- tion that saw him yesterday referred to Parliament’s privileges committee.
Labor is now calling on Mr Brooks, pictured, to pay the money back, considering the investigation found he repeatedly lied to the Premier and deliberately deleted emails that proved he was still involved in a business he was instructed to sell while mining minister.
Premier Will Hodgman said he had instructed the solicitor-general to review the payment. But he said it was convention that ministers were indemnified for legal costs “in matters that arise in the discharge of [their] office”.
He has vowed Mr Brooks will not be a minister again.
TAXPAYERS have so far paid almost $60,000 in legal costs former mining minister Adam Brooks incurred while being investigated by the Integrity Commission.
The Braddon Liberal MHA was yesterday referred to Parliament’s Privileges Committee after being found by the commission to have repeatedly lied to the Premier and deliberately deleted emails that proved he was still involved in a business he was instructed to sell while mining minister.
Premier Will Hodgman last night told Parliament Mr Brooks had been reimbursed $57,888 in legal fees with further costs related to the Integrity Commission process outstanding.
Mr Hodgman said he had instructed the Solicitor-General to review the original costs and whether Mr Brooks should be indemnified for the almost $60,000 so far paid.
Opposition Deputy Leader Michelle O’Byrne said Mr Brooks should be ordered to pay it back.
“This legal bill amounts to more than the average wage of a Tasmanian living in Mr Brooks’s Braddon electorate,” Ms O’Byrne said.
“It’s a disgrace that the Premier has allowed him to lie, accepted his lies and charge the Tasmanian taxpayer for the pleasure.”
The Privileges Committee — made up of three Liberal and two Labor MHAs — will examine whether Mr Brooks’s actions breached the parliamentary Code of Conduct.
The Integrity Commission cleared Mr Brooks of holding a material conflict of interest as defined under that code.
This was partly because, despite Mr Brooks retaining involvement in his company Maintenance Systems Solutions while mining minister, his decisions were not influenced by his business interests, nor was his business solely focused on mining, it said.
However, Opposition Leader Rebecca White said her party believed Mr Brooks was not fit to be in Parliament and called on the Privileges Committee to report back by March 12, 2019.
“This is the most damning thing to come out of the Integrity Commission since it was established,” Ms White said.
The powers of the Privileges Committee appear limited. Standing orders dictate that someone found guilty of contempt can be fined $40 or imprisoned for up to two weeks; they can also be referred to the Supreme Court where they would face harsher penalties.
A University of Tasmania article on the powers of the Privileges Committee noted the relevant legislation was “not comprehensive”.
“The legislation does not touch on Parliament’s power to decide who is a member or to expel members and exclude strangers; create any immunity from arrest; or define the scope of the parliamentary precincts,” it said.
Premier Will Hodgman said the Privileges Committee was the appropriate body to examine whether Mr Brooks’s behaviour breached the Standing Orders of the House.
“The reference to a Privileges Committee is not an insignificant matter but one which we will not object to in the circumstances,” Mr Hodgman said.
Mr Brooks has indicated he will return to Parliament after taking indefinite sick leave.
Former Opposition leader Bryan Green, who referred Mr Brooks to the Integrity Commission in 2016, yesterday told ABC Radio his position was untenable.
Mr Green acknowledged his own “court dramas” but said he “never and would never stand in front of my leader and blatantly lie to protect myself, no way”.
Mr Hodgman has repeatedly said Mr Brooks would not re-enter Cabinet “for the foreseeable future” and on Tuesday stripped him of his role as Government Whip.
“With respect to who sits in this place, that is a matter for the Tasmanian people,” Mr Hodgman said. “That is not my call.” Of Mr Hodgman’s response, Mr Green declared: “He wouldn’t pull a sick chook off its nest.”