Opinion: Premier exposed as Covid-19 smokescreen clears

The revelations of recent weeks suggest we are moving back to the bad old days of the Bjelke-Petersen era, writes Mike O’Connor. VOTE IN OUR POLL

The Covid-19 smokescreen is finally clearing, the machinations of the Government which rule the Sunshine State increasingly laid bare.

For the past two years Covid-19 has been the gift which just kept on giving by dominating the headlines, mesmerising the electorate and providing the Queensland Government with the perfect distraction.

The keeping-Queensland-safe mantra was the chant with which the political day began and ended, all hail Queen Anna and never mind any pesky questioning about secret health advice, politically inspired lockdowns and border closures and shameless scare tactics.

The Government was still clinging desperately to the strategy last week, batting away serious questions about a lack of propriety, integrity and transparency by saying that it was far too busy dealing with the pandemic to be bothered with such trivia.

The daily press conferences still roll out the Covid-19 statistics, accompanied by appropriately sombre expressions in the belief that people are still burning candles at the government’s altar for saving them from the doomsday modelling that was trotted out.

That Queensland taxpayers picked up the tab for modelling that was so wildly inaccurate that you could be forgiven for thinking that the figures for projected hospitalisations were arrived at by picking a number out of a hat and multiplying it by 10 does not seem to have been seen as an issue.

These Nostradamus-like forecasts were treated as sacred writ, their failure to be realised due to the maternal embrace of the government.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk

The game’s up now. The statistics are still being megaphoned to the people but the clouds of protective smoke they once provided have gone.

It’s back to the reality of good governance, and dismissive utterances that the Premier and her ministers are too busy saving us all no longer cut it.

You don’t need to be student of politics to appreciate that there is something seriously amiss when it becomes apparent that the public service has become seriously politicised and compromised.

The failings of government are deleted or hidden and potential whistleblowers are worried into silence.

To act with impartiality and give frank and fearless advice is to commit professional suicide. Keep your head down, do as you’re told and keep saying ”Yes, Minister” becomes the credo.

The revelations of recent weeks – the resignations of the State Archivist and the Integrity Commissioner and the circumstances surrounding them suggest that we are moving back to the bad old days of the Bjelke-Petersen government and there are more than enough of us still around who remember them.

A laptop belonging to the Integrity Commissioner seized and files deleted by the Public Service Commission without her knowledge?

What was on it to justify that? It’s a fair bet that it wasn’t her favourite recipe for lasagne or her shopping list.

According to its website, the role of the Public Service Commission is to “collaborate with Queensland Government agencies to achieve our vision—a high-performing, future-focused public sector that is distinguished by its capability, impartiality and professionalism in serving the Queensland Government and community.”

Really? Then why is it acting like the secret police?

This Government is averse to criticism of any kind, the standard position being to brush aside questions or provide non-answers.

It is this attitude that has been on display in recent days with the Premier responding to quite reasonable calls for an inquiry into these matters, which go to the very heart of government, by airily dismissing them with the claim that ”I think the people of Queensland know me. They know I work every single day to uphold their values to keep them safe and look after their families.”

The Premier, it seems, has now become the self-anointed Mother Teresa of Queensland politics and blessed are those who find themselves so fortunate as to be wrapped in her mantle.

Without disparaging the abilities of Tony Fitzgerald in any way, yesterday’s announcement of an inquiry to be chaired by him into the Crime and Conduct Commission is an attempt by the Government to divert attention away the deep malaise that infects it.

The Cabinet is comprised largely of unemployable lightweights who’d juggle chainsaws if their union bosses so decreed, so we shouldn’t expect any sudden conversion to the principles of open government there.

It will have to come from the top, and if it is not forthcoming then there will be a price to be paid.

How do I know this? As a former Queensland premier was wont to say, “Don’t you worry about that.”