Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk ‘planned to reveal’ Transport Minister Mark Bailey’s billion-dollar train blowout cover-up

Annastacia Palaszczuk insists Queenslanders were going to be told about a $2.4bn train manufacturing blowout despite the figure being withheld for eight weeks.

The State Government kept secret a $2.4bn cost blowout on its train manufacturing program for eight weeks before The Courier-Mail revealed it – but Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk insists Queenslanders were always going to be told.

Ms Palaszczuk confirmed on Monday the blowout had been approved by Cabinet’s Budget Review Committee on May 16, six weeks before Transport Minister Mark Bailey deleted it from a media release and eight before it was first revealed after it was quietly published on the transport department’s website.

But Ms Palaszczuk said on Monday: “There was going to be an announcement, and that announcement had not been reached.”

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk at the Ekka Cabinet meeting. Picture: John Gass/NCA NewsWire

Following the traditional cabinet meeting at Brisbane’s Ekka, she faced a grilling over when she knew the cost had increased from $7.1bn to $9.5bn, and why she had not publicly revealed the figure.

She said it had been “decided” at the high-level ministerial CBRC, which she chairs.

Questioned why she did not inform Queenslanders until the blowout was revealed by The Courier-Mail in July, she acknowledged it was a mistake: “Well, that was the stuff-up, we’ve said that. Those timings get worked out between the departments and between the ministers’ offices, so there was going to be an announcement and that announcement had not been reached.”

Transport Minister Mark Bailey has previously said the $9.5bn was planned to be announced, before his office suggested it be removed from a draft press release – differing from the Premier’s story.

“My understanding was there had been no agreement, the agreement had to be in line with the CBRC, with the proponents and everything and all of those things had not happened at the time,” she said.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk at the Ekka Cabinet meeting. Picture: John Gass/NCA NewsWire

Opposition Leader David Crisafulli accused the government of attempting to buy time to avoid getting to the bottom of the issue.

“Every day there’s another smokescreen put up, in the end someone’s got to be held accountable,” Mr Crisafulli said.

But Ms Palaszczuk reiterated she had “every confidence” in Department of Premier and Cabinet director-general Rachel Hunter to run an investigation, but referred questions about her independence to Ms Hunter.

Meanwhile it has been revealed that Attorney-General Yvette D’Ath most likely found out about the blowout via news reports, as the minister stood by her under-fire colleague.

Ms D’Ath, who doesn’t sit on the more exclusive cabinet budget review committee (CBRC), said she found out about the whopping cost increase to the Queensland Train Manufacturing Program when the information was reported publicly.

“I don’t sit on CBRC … as a minister who is not responsible for that area I wouldn’t have had direct knowledge of, that’s my recollection anyway,” she said.

“I would have to go back and check, I sit on other committees but I don’t recall finding out earlier.”

Transport Minister Mark Bailey remains under fire for keeping the $2.4bn project blowout out of public view and for his office attempting to delete the figure from a media release.

But Ms D’Ath stood by her colleague, saying Mr Bailey was “doing a great job” and he had apologised.

Mr Bailey last month revealed his department had provided his ministerial media team with a draft media release with the true $9.5bn cost on June 19 – a figure “removed from the press release (by his office), and no other figure was added in its place”.

The June 30 press release trumpeted three times that the cost was $7.1bn – including in a direct quote from Ms Palaszczuk.

The $9.5bn figure was meanwhile uploaded to the official government website of the train-building program on the same day. It was a fortnight before anyone noticed.