“I think our approval rating as a party has gone down, I think it’s damaged my standing, I think it’s damaged the Labor Party’s standing, and who knows, on the basis of this we could lose the election,” Beattie told ABC radio.

Energex has been troubled since last summer’s storm season caused huge power blackouts in south-east Queensland. The recent suicide of its CEO and the subsequent resignations of two successive chairmen have added to the controversies.

Yesterday Beattie appointed Khory McCormick as the new chairman yesterday of Energex – its third chairman in the last fortnight.

McCormick’s appointment runs until the end of the current financial year. He replaces Ross Dunning who resigned on Tuesday, two weeks after being appointed as chairman, to defend himself against criminal allegations.

Dunning’s predecessor at Energex, Don Nissen, quit late last month after the company’s CEO Greg Maddock committed suicide, stepping in front of a train at a station in Beattie’s electorate.

Energex has been under pressure from the State Government to perform after the release of the Somerville report in July found the corporation could not guarantee supply and its networks had been neglected.

However the Government had also been criticised in the report for taking more than $600 million in profits and special dividends from Energex and other energy utilities.

Maddock had been under investigation by Treasury officials over expenditure claims, including about $30,000 on building improvements and new furnishings for his home. News of the investigation had been leaked and Maddock was said to have feared that he was going to be used as a scapegoat and his reputation and career would be irreparably damaged.

But the investigation concluded that while the expenditure claims were unusual they had been consistent with the package Maddock had negotiated when he relocated from Sydney to Brisbane in 2001. The then Energex chairman, Don Nissen, had approved the outlays and continued to defend Maddock.

Nissen resigned shortly after the suicide, hinting that Beattie’s office had deliberately leaked news of the investigation and this has led to Maddock taking his own life.

Shortly after Nissen’s resignation, Beattie appointed Ross Dunning as Energex chairman, only to learn within hours that Dunning was being investigated over possible criminal offences.

Opposition Leader Lawrence Springborg said he was aware Dunning was being investigated and questioned how Beattie could not have known when he made the appointment.

“We cannot believe that Beattie was not made aware of this particularly when these allegations related to somebody who had served in senior positions on government boards which he was responsible for,” Springborg told ABC radio.

“If Mr Beattie is to be believed - and we don’t believe him - then the question here is why wasn’t he notified and why didn’t the police minister or the crime and misconduct commission notify him?”

But Beattie said it was incredible to think he would have appointed Dunning had he known of the investigation. He criticised Springborg for not telling him.

“There is no excuse for covering this up,” Beattie said.

“Mr Springborg didn’t tell me because he wanted to play some sort of stupid, immature political game.”