Jackie Trad CCC: Govt’s latest move an obscene, disgraceful attack on democracy

There are so many words to describe the outrageous attack on democracy that has occurred this morning at Queensland’s Parliament House and yet none of them are strong enough, writes Jessica Marszalek.

Obscene, incredible, gobsmacking and disgraceful.

There are so many words to describe the outrageous attack on democracy that has occurred this morning at Queensland’s Parliament House and yet none of them are strong enough.

Rather than be seen to again vote against releasing the costs the Crime and Corruption Commission has racked up in legal action due to Jackie Trad’s move to use the Supreme Court to block the release of a CCC report detailing her hiring of former under treasurer Frankie Carroll, a group of Labor MPs just didn’t turn up to work today.

Despite the fact two of them – full-time committee members Jonty Bush and Jess Pugh – are paid an extra $25,118 on top of generous salaries to do so, they decided not to attend this morning’s PCCC meeting that was publicly notified on Tuesday.

It meant the meeting lacked quorum and couldn’t proceed.

The costs will remain secret by default due to antics that are surely worse by now than the information they’re suppressing.

Jackie Trad’s involvement in the recruitment of a school principal was investigated by the CCC. Picture: AAP Image/Dan Peled

Because this is more than a political stunt.

This is an affront to democracy in Queensland.

Because the parliament’s committee system exists for a very important reason – and today that fundamental reason was thwarted by a handful of Labor MPs who put politics ahead of the people they purport to represent.

Queensland has a unicameral House – that means there is only one parliamentary chamber in which a majority government can pretty much do what it likes within the bounds of the law (and if it doesn’t like the laws, it can change them).

We have no Upper House, no Senate, no ‘house of review’, as other states and the Commonwealth do.

So we have the committee system, where laws and important review functions – like reviewing the work of the CCC – is overseen by a selection of MPs across the political divide working in different committees.

And today, it seems Queenslanders saw Labor MPs publicly snub their important functions for blatant political reasons.

They snubbed integrity and transparency.

And they snubbed you.