Editorial: Qld integrity inquiry will be pointless if not acted on
While a long-overdue independent integrity inquiry is welcome news, the real proof will come later, writes the editor.
Opinion
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Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk says “periodic reviews are good for governments”. We say: Only if their recommendations are implemented.
That is our first response to the review Ms Palaszczuk will today – belatedly – announce into what good old-fashioned newspaper reporting has over the past few weeks revealed are significant cultural issues in the way the state’s public sector and the executive (the ministers) have been interacting.
It is all well and good for the Premier to announce this necessary review by respected former QUT vice-chancellor Professor Peter Coaldrake. We certainly welcome it. But it all amounts to nothing if all the recommendations made by the review are not implemented – which is what happened last time Professor Coaldrake did a similar job for the Palaszczuk Government.
Talking about this new review last night, Ms Palaszczuk said it would have the power to “make” system-wide changes. Well, no – it won’t. As Premier, Ms Palaszczuk is the one who has the power to make changes. Professor Coaldrake can only “make” recommendations to her.
Beyond that critical call-out, The Courier-Mail welcomes this move. As we said in our prescient editorial on Tuesday – that called for an inquiry into the matters that have been raised by a string of senior public servants – Queenslanders are well and truly overdue for answers.
We note the terms of reference specify that the review “will not seek to resolve individual complaints” and instead focus on system-level reform. This clever caveat means, for example, that the specific claims made by former state archivist Mike Summerell that he was instructed to deleted those parts of his 2017 annual report that reflected poorly on the past behaviours of Minister Mark Bailey will go untested.
But at least the broader concerns about the cultural issues that Mr Summerell has labelled a “cancer” within this Government should come under the trusted microscope of Professor Coaldrake. And that is the most important thing.
As we said here on Tuesday, as Queenslanders like you our highest priority at The Courier-Mail is always the interests of this great state of ours – and so the way it is being administered is central to our mission.
That is why we did not for one minute shy away from our reporting – despite predictable criticism from those partisan commentators who have mocked our pursuit of these matters over the past few weeks.
Another trait of Queenslanders that we at The Courier-Mail share with you is a pretty well-honed BS detector, and it has been going off as that string of public servants who worked – or still work – at the interface of the Palaszczuk Government’s executive branch have been brave enough to issue their warnings publicly. We thank them for their courage. This review is a victory for them.
And so to the review itself. This is far from an investigation into the “vibe”, as Deputy Premier Steven Miles valiantly tried to suggest a week ago that a review into these matters would amount to. Based on the terms of reference, this will be a genuine review into six key areas to ensure our state’s supposedly independent public service can be what it is supposed to be.
First, the review will examine the culture of the public sector in ensuring “ethical decision-making and impartial advice to the executive”. Second, it will examine the “nature of the interactions” between the executive and the public sector and its integrity bodies. Third – and critically when it comes to recommended changes that just MUST be implemented – the review will look at the laws that underpin the ethics and integrity framework.
It will also examine the “adequacy of systems to prevent ethical, accountability and integrity issues” and, fifth, the training and communication policies that underpin those complaints mechanisms. And finally, it will look into the timeliness of processes to resolve integrity complaints.
It is a pretty comprehensive list of directions from a government that just a week ago was asking “what issues?” And so, full credit to Premier Palaszczuk. It took a while, but she finally realised she simply had to act – as someone elected to the job seven years ago this week on a platform of restoring the faith of Queenslanders into the integrity, transparency and accountability of their state government. Indulge us for a moment, then, as our hardworking team of reporters who led the coverage of this affair take this outcome straight to the pool room.
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 are available here
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