Queensland energy minister claims CS Energy gave him 'incorrect' advice after Callide C power plant explosion

Queensland Energy Minister Mick de Brenni says he was handed "incorrect" advice by CS Energy in 2021. (ABC News: Lucas Hill)

Queensland Energy Minister Mick de Brenni claims he was provided with "incorrect" advice by the former CEO and chair of state-owned operator CS Energy about maintenance work at Callide C power station.

Mr de Brenni, who is currently on two days' leave, called a press conference to take questions amid the continuing fallout from a damning draft report into the 2021 power plant explosion.

In May 2021, the day after the explosion at Callide C, Mr de Brenni told parliament "we can guarantee that all of the maintenance work that is required to be done on all of our power stations has been done".

But speaking to reporters on Thursday, Mr de Brenni claimed he had been misinformed at the time.

The minister said he had provided advice to Queenslanders "based on specific information provided to me by CS Energy".

The state opposition has accused Mr de Brenni of misleading parliament.

Maintenance a concern since 2019

Forensic engineer Sean Brady's draft report, released earlier this week, said a 2019 review found the maintenance backlog exceeded "approved limits across all sites" and that those levels "increased the risk to the business that sites will experience increased assets failures".

"Statutory maintenance also suffered backlogs," the report said.

Following that review, the report said management agreed to reduce the statutory maintenance backlog and take a prioritised approach to reducing maintenance backlog.

But a 2022 "verification" of the review found the maintenance backlog "had not been brought back within KPI limits".

"The updated work maintenance procedure was finalised and rolled out after the incident in April 2022," the report said.

Senior Labor figure and former Brisbane lord mayor Jim Soorley resigned as chairman of CS Energy last year after eight years in the job. He declined to comment.

Andrew Bills has since departed as the CEO of CS Energy.

The ABC also sought comment from Mr Bills. A spokesperson for his current employer directed all inquiries back to CS Energy, which was unable to comment.

A new board was appointed to CS Energy last year.

'I looked them in the eye'

Mr de Brenni said on Thursday the advice he received at that time was unequivocal.

"They guaranteed that all of the statutory and other maintenance required had been done and what we have seen from the Brady report is (that) the advice the CEO and the chair gave me was incorrect."

"I looked them in the eye multiple times and asked them to confirm that with me, and unequivocally they confirmed everything that needed to be done had been done. What Brady says is that was incorrect."

Mr de Brenni said the "first time" he became aware the advice was wrong was when he read the draft Brady report at the weekend.

"I'm confident in the new board to ensure that the plan that we have put in place to restore the power station and address the matters that Dr Brady raises, I'm confident they'll achieve that."

'Failure to implement' safety protocols

The explosion — which triggered mass blackouts — was caused by the failure of a battery backup system at the station's C4 unit.

Dr Brady's draft report found CS Energy failed to "value and implement effective safety practices" at the Central Queensland site.

It said the "key organisational factor" that contributed to the incident was a "failure to implement effective process safety practices that would have increased the likelihood of identifying and managing the risks associated with replacing the new Unit C4 battery charger and bringing it into service".

The draft report also said CS Energy's 2020 shareholder mandate — issued by shareholding ministers — drove a focus on cost savings, while at the same time placing constraints on the entity's investment strategies, including its existing assets.

Asked if he accepted any blame for the incident, Mr de Brenni said the draft report "doesn't suggest anybody other than the decisions made at the site were responsible for what occurred".

'Doesn't cut it'

Opposition Leader David Crisafulli said it had been "another extraordinary 24 hours" in the Callide saga.

"The government is running out of time, and it's certainly running out of excuses," he said.

"The different stories across 24 hours from three different people [the premier, treasurer and energy minister] is completely undermining confidence in getting this show back on the road."

Mr Crisafulli condemned Mr de Brenni, alleging he misled parliament and adding that "the multiple excuses used today by the minister, I'm afraid, doesn't cut it".