Opinion: Time for voters to teach Labor a lesson in integrity

Writing for The Courier-Mail, the LNP frontbencher who raised the CCC complaint against Jackie Trad says the Labor Government is overdue for a lesson in integrity.

THE chaos and confusion that has engulfed the Palaszczuk Government in the past three days did not appear from nowhere.

This is a direct result of the sloppy standards and weak leadership shown by Annastacia Palaszczuk since she became premier.

Jackie Trad should have been sacked last year when it was revealed her husband had secretly bought an investment property in the footprint of her pet project, Cross River Rail.

Of course, she was untouchable.

It was while Labor was still hosing down Trad’s property scandal that the LNP received further concerning correspondence about her activities.

That correspondence alleged Trad had unethically interfered in the selection process of a high school principal in her South Brisbane electorate. The allegation was specific and precise.

Opposition Leader Deb Frecklington demanded that the allegation be forensically examined.

Deb Frecklington has always made it clear that her shadow ministry must be held to high standards, and the people of Queensland expect that the serving ministers of the Crown should be too.

The more we looked into the appointment process for the principalship of the Inner City South State Secondary College, the more concerned we became.

First, it appeared that a highly respected and experienced principal had been treated in a grossly unfair way in the appointment process.

Her successful appointment had been meritorious, but the allegation is it had been quashed after she was interviewed by Jackie Trad.

LNP education spokesman Jarrod Bleijie

Secondly, these events pointed to the increasing arrogance at the top of the Government, with ministers routinely ignoring ministerial standards that exist to prevent abuses of power.

As is our job, the LNP aired the allegation in Parliament.

As is becoming routine, Labor responded with spin and distortion.

Soon, flaws appeared in Trad’s story. The departmental excuse given for cancelling the original appointment – that the school would be larger than expected and needed a more senior principal – unravelled when it emerged that the department had already correctly assessed the size of the new school before the original appointee was selected.

What should worry Queenslanders is the Premier’s default reaction.

Faced with integrity scandals relating to her deputy over several years, the Premier’s response is always the same as Sergeant Schultz – “I know nothing!”

The LNP took the most recent Trad allegation to the Crime and Corruption Commission.

After a lengthy assessment, the CCC has now launched a full-scale investigation.

Jackie Trad had no real choice but to resign. But the bigger problem is Labor’s culture.

All governments must have integrity and be seen to have integrity.

This Government needs to be given a lesson in integrity.

And the only people who can deliver it are the voters of this state on October 31.

Jarrod Bleijie is LNP education spokesman