Qld integrity crisis: Steven Miles says ‘vibe’ not enough for inquiry

Deputy Premier Steven Miles has rejected calls for a commission of inquiry into government integrity, saying claims made so far only amount to a “vibe”.

The Queensland Government can’t launch an inquiry into “the vibe” of poor government integrity, Deputy Premier Steven Miles says.

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 investigate.

“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 the explosive claims.

“At one stage he said he had a thread.

“If there is new evidence, then it should be forwarded to the CCC (Crime and Corruption Commission), 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. Picture: Dan Peled

“It (state government) either tries to scare people or trivialise matters, but Queenslanders aren’t buying it anymore,” he told reporters on Sunday afternoon.

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.

“And the royal commission will fix that culture and it will fix, what I believe, is systemic corruption raging through the government.”

Mr Miles’ comments follow a week of claims by former state archivist Mike Summerell of interference in his office, from former legal affairs commissioner Bob Brittan into an unethical job recruitment process and claims from others that public servants work to protect the Government from embarrassment.

Deputy Premier Steven Miles at a Sunday morning media conference. Picture: Liam Kidston

They and Ms Stepanov have called for a review into integrity, backed by the principal author of the state’s Integrity Act, Howard Whitton, and the man who completed a review of the public service for Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk in 2020, Peter Bridgman.

Meanwhile, Mr Miles failed to commit to the release of a secret report into the Mark Bailey Mangocube affair by Mr Summerell, which was sent to the director-general of Arts Minister Leeanne Enoch’s department in 2017 ahead of the election.

Mr Miles first said his understanding was that the report had been provided to the CCC, which had released its report.

He 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”.

When told the journalist was referring to a separate report to the director-general, not to the CCC, Mr Miles said: “I’m happy to check that for you.”

Mr Summerell today called for that report to be released, saying he had always intended it to be read by the public given its “significant public interest”.

“This report was not my report to the CCC,” he said.

Deputy Premier Steven Miles at a Sunday morning media conference. Picture: Liam Kidston

The Government has so far refused to release any details of that report, including its recommendations.

Mr Summerell said debate around integrity, transparency and accountability was raging and the government had campaigned on these issues to win election 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.”

Mr Miles said taxpayers weren’t concerned with government integrity problems.

“I think Queenslanders are confident with the government’s processes,” he said, adding they were more interested in getting a rapid antigen test and problems in aged care facilities than with integrity claims.

“This is not what they raise with me.”

Meanwhile, Mr Miles was asked about his use of a private email account in the past for ministerial business, and admitted those revelations at the time “made me look a bit silly”.

“The time I did err and use my Gmail, they’ve now been well publicised,” he said.