Editorial: Coaldrake legislation at least a good start by the Premier

Legislation introduced by the Premier to improve public-sector culture and accountability as recommended by the Coaldrake review is praiseworthy, but there is so much more to be done, writes the editor.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk says she has “hit the ground running” when it comes to her government’s legislative response to the issues raised in Professor Peter Coaldrake’s landmark review (four months ago now) of culture and accountability in the public sector.

But the legislation the Premier introduced to state parliament on Friday still leaves a long way to go when it comes to implementing Professor Coaldrake’s recommendations “lock, stock and barrel” – as Ms Palaszczuk recommitted to doing last week.

The legislation should only be considered a down payment, then, on what the Premier has now told parliament she will do: to implement all of the 14 recommendations that Professor Coaldrake made in late June.

Professor Peter Coaldrake reviewed culture and accountability in the Queensland public sector.

We, of course, acknowledge the complexity relating to much of what was recommended, but the Premier should nonetheless act in totality sooner rather than later.

We say that not only because it is important in life to strike while the iron is hot, but also because this administration has not exactly broken speed records in the past when it comes to acting on recommendations made by previous reviews into similar matters.

The Premier acknowledged that truth herself in parliament on Friday when she said the two Bills she was introducing not only acted on parts of the Coaldrake review, but also on recommendations made by reviews into similar topics by industrial lawyer Peter Bridgman and former bureaucrat Kevin Yearbury.

The Bridgman review into the public service reported back in April 2019, while Mr Yearbury’s review of the Integrity Commissioner’s functions was completed last October.

But as a down payment on the Coaldrake review, the legislation introduced by the Premier is still a significant move that warrants praise.

The first recommendation in Professor Coaldrake’s report was that the independence of the state’s Auditor-General be strengthened, “extending its scope and according it status as an officer of the parliament”.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk. Picture: NewsWire/Sarah Marshall

And the legislation does just that through a range of changes the Bill’s explanatory notes say “combine to create more independence and autonomy for the Auditor-General” – just as Professor Coaldrake said was necessary after a decade where its independence ranking nationally had dropped from third to sixth.

The legislation also confirms the independence of the Integrity Commissioner through providing that they will not be subject to any direction in the way they perform their functions or priority they give to issues raised, as well as creating a properly independent Office of the Integrity Commissioner.

This is also a critical change, and appears to be a solid response to the concerns raised earlier this year over alleged meddling in its work by the Public Service Commission.

A range of other changes as recommended by Mr Yearbury are also included.

The Premier’s legislation also included the second tranche of law changes responding to the Bridgman review.

As the Bill’s explanatory notes say, the legislation “gives effect to the primary recommendation – to provide all public sector employees with a modern, simplified and employee-focused legislative framework that can further the government’s commitment to being fair, responsive and a leader in public administration”.

A welcome change indeed, but not before time.

There is a lot more work to do, as the Premier herself acknowledges – but at least we are finally on the way