Editorial: Don’t reward Queensland Rail mismanagement

QUEENSLAND Rail is everything taxpayers dislike about a bloated bureaucracy: it’s corpulent, cavalier and – in many senses – incompetent.

Commuters suffered weeks of delays while Queensland Rail chiefs took their eyes off the ball in Europe. Picture: Liam Kidston

QUEENSLAND Rail is everything taxpayers dislike about a bloated bureaucracy. Corpulent, cavalier and – in many senses – incompetent, it is the antithesis of how private enterprise has been forced to adapt to the sophisticated and challenging fiscal times of today.

It is that attitude – an inability to accept accountability and responsibility – that has bred a culture that has effectively presided over the worst government decision-making process and bungling since the botched health payroll scandal.

Commissioning a new railway service without the necessary number of drivers is almost Monty Pythonesque in its incompetence. Now, as we reveal today, former railways chief Helen Gluer and a key executive took a European business trip just weeks before the bungled opening of the Redcliffe rail line that plunged the Citytrain network into crisis.

Former railways chief Helen Gluer took a European business trip just weeks before the bungled opening of the Redcliffe rail line that plunged the Citytrain network into crisis. Picture: Mark Cranitch

Queensland Rail chief operating officer Kevin Wright only returned to Australia after commuters had faced weeks of hell due to mass train cancellations caused by a shortage of drivers.

The Sunday Mail is not suggesting that bureaucrats should not learn new tricks from other countries. What we do say is taxpayers and commuters affected by the rail bungle will be aghast at the timing of this $37,000 so-called “study tour’’.

Ms Gluer and Queensland Rail’s chief operating officer, Kevin Wright, left for Europe on September 2. Ms Gluer returned the day before the shutdown of the Caboolture rail line – closed to prepare for the upcoming new Redcliffe line opening – which caused weeks of pain for commuters. But Mr Wright stayed on holiday after the trip, only returning to work on October 13.

By then, commuters had faced weeks of hell due to mass train cancellations caused by the driver shortage and brought to a head by the Redcliffe Peninsula line opening on October 3.

So, as Rome burned, Nero fiddled. Mr Wright still has his job. And he received a performance bonus of $77,000 on top of his $637,000 annual salary package.

Is this the reality of accountable government bureaucracy? Do we reward lack of performance with huge bonuses and travel perks?

QR shelled out $7.78 million in performance bonuses in the 2015-16 fiscal year. We would sincerely hope – based on the fiasco of the past few months – that no one will get a bonus from QR this year.

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Anti-child-abuse campaigner Hetty Johnston says underage children implanted with contraceptive devices could be targeted by rapists.

CHILD SAFETY OVERHAUL LONG OVERDUE

CHILD safety remains a significant issue for the Palaszczuk Government.

Last week three Child Safety officers were stood down, and nine were facing disciplinary action in the wake of Mason Jet Lee’s death, a story exposed by The Sunday Mail.

Today, it goes further. Health officials have been accused of condoning underage sex by implanting contraceptive devices in girls as young as 12. The children were targets for rapists, according to anti-child-abuse campaigner and Bravehearts founder Hetty Johnston.

The time has come for a complete overhaul of the way Queensland looks after its vulnerable children. It is the biggest test this Government will endure.