Qld assistant ministers under scrutiny as they rake in extra $93k

As Queensland’s assistant ministers rake in an extra $93,000 a year, the Premier says he is open to releasing their diaries.

Assistant minister turned Transport Minister Bart Mellish

• Editor’s view: $93k for (almost) nothing

Queensland’s assistant ministers will be asked to publish their diaries and give a public glimpse into their workload, which sees them rake in an extra $93,000 a year.

Despite the pay boost that sees the state’s assistant ministers – of which there are eight – earn $270,000 every year, until now their diaries have only been obtainable through lengthy and costly right-to-information requests.

The Courier-Mail this month obtained the diary entries for a single year of former assistant minister to the premier for veterans’ affairs and the public sector Bart Mellish – now the state’s transport minister – at a cost of almost $400.

The 220 pages of partially redacted documents mostly contain vague entries such as “Bart at 1 William Street All Day” and “Parliamentary Sitting Week” – complete with the running schedule of parliament sitting days.

Meetings unredacted within the diary entries spanning from September ’22 to August ’23 include those with federal Veterans’ Affairs Minister Matt Keogh, and a lunch meeting with then premier Annastacia Palaszczuk and the other assistant ministers.

Mr Mellish also made a number of trips across the state, attending events linked to the veterans’ affairs portfolio including instances of representing Ms Palaszczuk.

Premier Steven Miles told The Courier-Mail he had committed to leading an open and transparent government.

“That’s why I’m happy to consider the release of assistant minister diaries, as happens with the diaries of all ministers,” he said.

“Assistant ministers have an important role to play in supporting the development and implementation of our government policies.”

Mr Mellish said his time as an assistant minister was both valuable and important.

“I would fully support the Premier making the call to publish assistant minister’s diaries, both as a transparency measure and to keep Queenslanders informed of the work of the assistant ministers,” he said.

“As assistant minister for veterans’ affairs I achieved some great outcomes, including establishing Queensland’s first statutory authority for veterans and increasing funding for the sector.

“I also acted as a representative for the premier on many occasions at veterans events.

“The experience has also enabled me to hit the ground running as the new Minister for Transport and Main Roads.”

Jennifer Howard, Ali King, Shane King, Corrine McMillan and Jimmy Sullivan were all elevated to assistant minister during the reshuffle sparked by the resignation of Ms Palaszczuk in December, joining Julieanne Gilbert, Bruce Saunders and Brittany Lauga.

Opposition Leader David Crisafulli has indicated he too would support the release of assistant minister diaries and those of the shadow ministry.

When asked by The Courier-Mail last month, Mr Crisafulli – whose own diary is already made public – said no one had ever asked him that before, but he would support having the comings and goings of his 18-strong shadow ministry made available for public scrutiny.