Qld integrity report: Premier’s next appointment is with the people

After being missing in action almost two days following a damning integrity report, Annastacia Palaszczuk will finally face the media.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has blamed dental surgery for being unable to front Queenslanders after a blistering report that lifted the lid on widespread failures across the state government and public service.

Ms Palaszczuk insisted she could not delay the two-hour procedure in the wake of ­Professor Peter Coaldrake’s landmark report into the ­public service – instead making herself available to the media at 9am on Thursday.

Her call to not front the public, despite confirming she was “in the office working”, came as her office refused to answer questions about the review.

The Courier-Mail sent several detailed questions through to Ms Palaszczuk’s office following her decision not to hold a press conference.

But the Premier’s staff declined to respond to them, instead saying she would answer them at her Thursday morning media event. Speaking publicly for the first time after handing down his review, Prof Coaldrake yesterday spoke about the “high price” that was paid by public servants who offered frank advice.

Prof Coaldrake’s report, dubbed Let the Sunshine In, laid bare allegations of public servants being subjected to “disrespectful, belittling, or bullying” interactions with ministers and their staff.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk

Yesterday morning, Prof Coaldrake linked the behaviour exposed to government scandals over 30 years ago.

“We had these issues in the ’80s, we’ve got these issues now – they’re issues that need to be dealt with,” he told ABC Radio.

Prof Coaldrake’s report painted a picture of a culture “too tolerant of bullying” that was dominated by “short-term political thinking”, with calls of a cultural shift that encouraged “openness from the top”.

“This morning, I underwent two-hour dental surgery. It could not be delayed,” Ms Palaszczuk said in her statement yesterday.

“I am in the office working, but unfortunately it means I am unable to conduct a media conference this afternoon.

“ I will be available to the media at 9am Thursday morning.”

Ms Palaszczuk has already vowed to ­implement the recommendations of Prof Coaldrake’s review “lock, stock and barrel”, with the report to go to cabinet on Monday, when work will begin on rolling out the ­reforms.

Speaking on ABC Radio yesterday morning, Prof Coaldrake suggested a general message that came through during his review was the high price that can be paid by public servants who offered frank advice.

“The benefits of that frankness are outweighed by the potential risks that are associated with people not being happy or taking action against you or isolating you and all those sorts of things,” he said.

“So behavioural issues are certainly important. But they are important in all organisations and there are unhealthy things that are clearly prevalent and I hope some of the recommendations will ­address some of those.”

Professor Peter Coaldrake

Opposition Leader David Crisafulli backed the adoption of every recommendation, but renewed his calls for a royal commission into the government’s integrity.

“When a culture rots through a government, it no longer becomes about serving people, it becomes about serving their mates, and what we have had in the Coaldrake report reveals a rotten culture in the state government,” he said.

Mr Crisafulli said he wanted the Speaker and Deputy Speaker to chair next month’s estimates hearings as the Opposition called for the government to release the costings of its Wellcamp quarantine facility near Toowoomba.

The government has previously said it could not release the costings because of commercial-in-confidence business arrangements.

Deputy Opposition Leader Jarrod Bleijie also took a swipe at Ms Palaszczuk yesterday.

“Does she honestly believe that she is the one, that she is up to the job of implementing these recommendations, does she think she is the right person to change the culture in Queensland that she has overseen and has let it get to where it is today,” he said.

Senior cabinet ministers – Health Minister Yvette D’Ath and Attorney-General Shannon Fentiman – welcomed the findings of the report.

Ms D’Ath said the government expected issues to be uncovered, “that’s why you undertake reviews”.

Among the questions Ms Palaszczuk refused to respond to yesterday was what her message was to ­public servants following the report’s release, and how she would make their workplace better.

She also would not say why she was the best person to lead the introduction of the reforms recommended by Prof Coaldrake.

In an earlier statement, Ms Palaszczuk had said she embraced Prof Coaldrake’s review.