Editorial: Premier dodging integrity fallout is high farce

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk failing to front up the day after a report into her Government’s lack of transparency is the stuff of sitcoms, writes the editor.

It could easily be the script of a political sitcom: the leader of a government exposed by a respected reviewer of having a problem with transparency fails to front up to face questions the very next day because she has a dental appointment.

And yet that is what happened in Queensland for real on Wednesday, with Annastacia Palaszczuk issuing a public statement just after tooth-hurty (yep, that actually was the timing!) to announce to her people that while she was bravely back “in the office working” after the apparently unavoidable two-hour surgery, she would nonetheless be unable to attend an audience with journalists to answer any questions about the landmark review by Professor Peter Coaldrake that confirmed a wide range of serious issues relating to her government’s handling of integrity issues.

Her staffers then doubled down, flatly refusing to answer a single question relating to the review.

This dismissive attitude came despite the review carrying the less than subtle title “Let the sunshine in” – and saying its aspiration was “to influence a cultural shift which encourages openness from the top”. That is, a government that does not simply hide from scrutiny to rob the television news of any pictures in the hope they won’t cover it.

Now the Premier might well have had dental emergency. We don’t know the details because her office spent Wednesday proving Prof Coaldrake’s key point and refusing to say. If it was urgent, we do have some sympathy. However, she is the Premier and this was the most significant review of her government yet – and so surely it is not too much to ask for her to at least answer a couple of questions, particularly as she was well enough to be in the office by the afternoon.

If the surgery had been booked for Wednesday, that would be seriously strange as everyone had known for weeks the Coaldrake review would be published on Tuesday. And if indeed it “could not be delayed” she could have easily fronted up before the appointment.

Whatever the case, the entire affair is seriously strange. But it is behind us now. We look forward to the Premier appearing as promised instead at 9am on Thursday to explain what went wrong – and, far more importantly, what exactly her government plans to do as a matter of urgency on the most critical of Prof Coaldrake’s recommendations.

Most of the recommendations – which the Premier pledged in a statement on Tuesday night to implement “lock, stock and barrel” – will take some time to implement.

But one of the changes Prof Coaldrake highly recommended is that no lobbyists who had worked on a political campaign be allowed to engage with that government during its full term in office. As we know, two former Labor state secretaries-turned lobbyists were secretly seconded to work on Ms Palaszczuk’s re-election campaign in 2020. The Premier must on Thursday then start by confirming she will ban anybody in her government from any such contact with both Evan Moorhead and Cameron Milner between now and the next election, due in 2024.

Mr Moorhead yesterday promised to not work on the next campaign. But that is not the point. Prof Coaldrake clearly stated: “If an individual plays a substantive role in the election campaign of a prospective government, they should be banned from engaging in lobbying for the next term of office.” That rule should take effect from now, and apply to both.

STILL A LONG WAY TO GO

Of all the heartbreaking facts that deputy state coroner Jane Bentley included in her respectfully detailed inquest into the deaths of Hannah Clarke and her children, there is one shocking theme that stands out: the friends and associates of the killer who maintained – even after the event – that he was also a victim.

In giving statements “in which they stated that (the killer) loved his wife and children, he was a great father and that his actions were somehow excused or explained by the fact he was losing everything”, they showed how far we still have to go when it comes to our collective attitude to domestic violence.

On the other hand, Ms Bentley makes special mention of Michael Zemek, Samantha Covey, Kerry Fernandez, Reece Gourlay and Sarah Tranberg – the passers-by who helped. They are all heroes, as is Senior Constable Angus Skaines – who obtained a statement from Hannah that would have seen the killer prosecuted had he lived.

Responsibility for election comment is taken by Chris Jones, corner of Mayne Rd & Campbell St, Bowen Hills, Qld 4006. Printed and published by NEWSQUEENSLAND (ACN 009 661 778). Contact details here