Torch on Premier over Jackie Trad indemnity
Annastacia Palaszczuk faces mounting pressure to reveal whether she knew a second indemnity application would be provided to Jackie Trad.
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Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk faces mounting pressure to reveal whether she knew a second indemnity application would be provided to Jackie Trad as questions about Ms Palaszczuk’s own legal costs emerge.
Ms Palaszczuk has again declined to reveal whether Attorney-General Shannon Fentiman advised her before approving a second legal indemnity to assist Jackie Trad’s attempts to keep a Crime and Corruption Commission report into her conduct secret.
LNP frontbencher Deb Frecklington on Tuesday probed whether Ms Palaszczuk was notified before Ms Fentiman “signed off on a second round of taxpayers indemnity for her factional mate”.
Ms Palaszczuk would not say and instead suggested Ms Frecklington – who unsuccessfully ran as opposition leader at the 2020 election – read the rules under which indemnity was granted to Ms Trad.
“As the member is a former lawyer, the member may wish to look at the legal indemnity guidelines, which the Attorney-General followed in full,” Ms Palaszczuk said.
Her office later declined to respond to questions about the matter, declaring Ms Palaszczuk had nothing to add.
Ms Palaszczuk faced renewed questions about her own legal costs during a stoush with Katter’s Australian Party three years ago. Katter’s Australian Party leader Robbie Katter on Tuesday asked what the stoush cost Queensland taxpayers.
Ms Palaszczuk said: “These matters were in the last parliament. I can advise that legal indemnity guidelines were followed.”
Mr Katter said Ms Palaszczuk’s refusal to reveal the legal costs was a “fail on accountability”.
“At the end of the day I’m not really concerned whether it was $30,000, or $40,000, I just think we have the right to know and I think Queenslanders deserve to know what their money was spent on,” he said.
“It’s not the Premier’s money to use to defend yourself – it’s the Queensland taxpayers, no matter what office is held.
“The KAP had to beg, borrow and scrounge around to try and pay some legal fees to even put that stuff on the table and we didn’t get any help from Queensland taxpayers, but when the Premier does, I think it’s important to be transparent about that.”
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