Deputy Premier offers bizarre response to reject need for integrity probe

Deputy Premier Steven Miles gave yet another excuse for the Queensland Government not probing integrity claims on Sunday, bizarrely using a quote similar to one from the film The Castle.

The Palaszczuk Government has given yet another excuse for not probing integrity claims engulfing it, with Deputy Premier Steven Miles insisting it couldn’t call an inquiry into “the vibe” of it all.

Despite specific allegations made by a host of former and current government insiders, Mr Miles bizarrely channelled legendary film The Castle on Sunday to reject the need for a probe, insisting: “You can’t have a Royal Commission into ‘the vibe’.”

The latest obfuscation came as the government refused fresh calls to release a secret report that would reveal what integrity improvements it failed to introduce from the Mark Bailey Mangocube saga nearly five years ago.

Lawyer Dennis Denuto quoted “it’s the vibe of the thing, your Honour” in the hit 1997 film The Castle.

Former state archivist Mike Summerell on Sunday publicly called on the government to release a 2017 report he sent to the director general of Minister Leeanne Enoch’s department recommending changes based on his findings from the private email investigation.

He said Queenslanders deserved to see what was in it, and he always intended the report to be made public.

The Courier-Mail understands it includes unactioned recommendations to update the Public Records Act to include appropriate penalties for the unauthorised disposal of documents and that the state archivist seek assurances from ministers that ministerial records were being managed appropriately.

But the Government has refused to release the report and its complete and incomplete recommendations, instead inviting The Courier-Mail to apply for it via a Right to Information request that could assess whether its release was in the public interest.

Deputy Premier Steven Miles gave a similar quote to the film on Sunday, saying “you can’t have a Royal Commission into ‘the vibe’” on Sunday. Picture: Liam Kidston

Mr Miles confused the issue by answering questions on it by referencing a different report Mr Summerell provided to the Crime and Corruption Commission.

Mr Summerell insisted he was not talking about his CCC report, but another provided to the director-general of the Department of Science, Information, Technology and Innovation.

When the error was put to Mr Miles, he said: “I’m happy to check that for you.”

The Deputy Premier said there were “often a variety of reasons why things can and can’t be released” and he wasn’t “privy to all those conversations”.

But after more than a week of questions and concerns about a lack of accountability and transparency and claims about government interference into independent office holders, including from Integrity Commissioner Nikola Stepanov, Mr Miles rubbished claims there was

anything more to look at.

“It’s a bit like the Leader of the Opposition wants an inquiry into ‘the gist’,” he said of David Crisafulli’s calls for a Royal Commission into integrity.

“At one stage he said he had a thread.

“If there is new evidence, then it should be forwarded to the CCC, but you can’t have a Royal Commission into ‘the vibe’.”

Opposition Leader David Crisafulli accused the Palaszczuk Government of trivialising the “integrity inferno” enveloping it.

Opposition Leader David Crisafulli said the government was trivialising the crisis. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Josh Wonning

“It (the state government) either tries to scare people or trivialise matters, but Queenslanders aren’t buying it anymore,” he said.

Mr Crisafulli said the reluctance to release the findings of Mr Summerell’s Mangocube investigation from more than four years ago was further evidence of the government’s poor transparency.

“There’s a culture in Queensland where it seems that a big focus of those who work in the inner sanctum of the Premier is about how can we keep things from people, rather than how can we take Queenslanders on the journey and bring them into our trust,” he said.

Mr Summerell said the government had stated it believes in transparency and accountability and campaigned on that platform to win government in 2015.

“I call on the government to release the independent report on my investigation, as state archivist, into the allegations against Minister Bailey in full immediately,” he said.

“I believe it is now clearly in the public interest that the full report is made available to the Queensland public.”