"I stayed on to chair a further meeting for them by agreement and also because we had the cyclone (Marcia), it would have been poor form just to walk out there and then," he said. When asked for the reasoning behind his resignation, Mr Stone was blunt. "I don't work for Labor governments," he said. "… I could see there would be irreconcilable differences in the time ahead and I think the government was entitled to pick someone who would implement their policies. "I don't support their policies and so it's best to move on.

"When (former prime minister Kevin) Rudd was elected, I had three Commonwealth appointments at the time, one of which had just been renewed for six years, and I resigned them all immediately." Mr Stone said his resignation had nothing to do with Labor's proposed merger of Energex, Ergon and Powerlink, although he said it would be "interesting" to see how it panned out. "We had, at the request of the (Newman) government, looked at that, but we just couldn't see how it would work," he said. Mr Stone, whose annual remuneration package was $87,725 in 2014, said his tenure had delivered big dividends for Queensland taxpayers. He said the final dividend in 2011-12, when he was appointed, was $226 million, with $188 million going to Treasury.

In 2013-14, Mr Stone said, the final dividend was $406 million, with $294 million going back into the government's coffers. He said the 2014-15 results, which would not be published until the end of the financial year, would "mirror" the 2013-14 results. "When I came on board, the dividend back to the taxpayer was OK, but there was nothing huge about it," he said. "That's a matter of efficiencies, not a matter of profitability driven by increased tariffs or anything like that. "It was about making sure the place runs more efficiently and all of that money was being funnelled into the government to pay down debt." Mr Stone said he had "huge regard and respect" for the people who worked at Energex.

"It was a great privilege to serve and I consider it an important three years of my life, of contributing to the public good," he said. Electrical Trades Union state secretary Peter Simpson welcomed Mr Stone's departure and said the union was "happy to see the back of him". "He was one of the most divisive chairpersons we've ever come across," he said. "Goodbye and good riddance." When asked for comment about Mr Stone's resignation, Treasurer Curtis Pitt had little to say.

"This was his personal decision and we wish him well in the future," he said.