UNDER FIRE: Member for Redcliffe Scott Driscoll makes a statement to Parliament on Tuesday. Picture: Darren England Source: The Courier-Mail
REDCLIFFE MP Scott Driscoll has described allegations he lied to parliament about the use of phone lines in his electorate office as "false and sensationalist".
"I most certainly have not lied to this Parliament and I find such a claim to be contemptuous and disgraceful," he told the House.
"This article relies on private emails, including from my wife especially, to base its false allegations.
"My wife's terminology in private emails to me is not relevant to my actions as an MP.
"In reality in fact, what ultimately came about in regard to the article was a community and not-for-profit group amenity and benefit."
Mr Driscoll said he welcomed legitimate scrutiny but not that based on "smear and innuendo".
He accused those bringing allegations against him of being "individuals jealous of the fact that I have been given the honour of representing my beloved home town of Redcliffe".
Earlier, The Courier-Mail reported Mr Driscoll has been caught lying to Parliament about phone lines he installed so he could run a retail lobby group from his electorate office.
Emails have raised questions about the purpose of phone lines installed in the electoral office of Redcliffe MP Scott Driscoll.
The Redcliffe MP told Parliament on Tuesday the lines were for the use of local groups as a "community hub" and were cleared by the Clerk of the Parliament, Neil Laurie.
But new evidence uncovered by The Courier-Mail ties Mr Driscoll directly to a scheme under which phone lines used by the Queensland Retail Traders and Shopkeepers Association, also known as the United Retail Federation, were moved to the electorate office last year so staff on parliamentary salaries could help run the lobby group.
In correspondence sent to Mr Driscoll's parliamentary email address by his wife, Emma, on July 9 headed "URF questions - scott please assist with these questions", advice is sought on the move, which is for the MP's private business.
"We will must have a separate URF account for the new phone lines. We cant & don't want our bill being mixed in with Scotts office phone bill," the unedited email by Emma Driscoll says.
Attached is an earlier email in which Mrs Driscoll states:
"Scott no longer wants virtual phone lines, he wants proper phone lines . . . there is a big telstra phone box thing (don't know what you call it) that the office phones somehow use or are connected to. From my understanding Scott assumes that we can get the URF phone/fax lines somehow connected to it."
The Speaker of the House yesterday referred a written complaint from the Opposition about Mr Driscoll's alleged misuse of parliamentary resources and failures to disclose business interests to Parliament's Ethics Committee.
Mr Driscoll's statement to Parliament on Tuesday followed revelations in The Courier-Mail that the QRTSA has been paying Mr Driscoll's wife's company Norsefire $350,000 a year for management services while her husband controlled it from behind the scenes while an MP.
It is his only response to date to allegations he has had secret control of the QRTSA and the Regional Community Association of Moreton Bay (RCAMB), a taxpayer-funded social services provider that has also been paying consulting fees to Norsefire.
Mr Driscoll has failed to respond to questions from The Courier-Mail since the paper put allegations about his dealings with the QRTSA to him on February 18.
The Courier-Mail yesterday revealed a whistleblower has taken thousands of documents relating to Mr Driscoll's RCAMB dealings to the Crime and Misconduct Commission, which said it was assessing new evidence in the matter.
Premier Campbell Newman yesterday told State Parliament he would not personally question his MP because doing so could interfere with the CMC's assessment of new information.
State Government funding to the RCAMB has been frozen pending investigations by the federal and state governments into financial irregularities.
- additional reporting by Sarah Vogler
