The CCC boss made the comments after revealing at today's State Parliament estimates hearing 'I was putting together an Ikea bookcase in my trackie pants' when the Deputy Premier called him before referring herself for investigation by the CCC into the purchase of a house near Cross River Rail.
Outside the Budget Estimates hearing he made the tongue-in-cheek comment saying “IKEA is far more difficult than this I can assure you'.
Mr MacSporran revealed what Ms Trad said during the call and does not think her phone call has compromised the integrity of the body in any way.
Mr MacSporran said Ms Trad called his business mobile.
“I was putting together an Ikea bookcase in my trackie pants. I was grateful for the distraction,” he told the hearing of the Sunday call.
11 WAYS TRAD, PREMIER HAVE FAILED 'PUB TEST'
“It was clear to me that it was in fact… a courtesy call to let me know that she was self-referring.”
SCROLL DOWN FOR LIVE UPDATES FROM THE ESTIMATES HEARING
He said Ms Trad told him she was also preparing documents for the CCC and also wanted to know if a press conference she was planning to hold would compromise anything.
‘The call lasted three, maybe five minutes. I made no notes as there was nothing to note.”
He said as promised the documents were delivered to the CCC by a solicitor on the Monday.
Mr MacSporran said a six-member executive leadership team would now handle the assessment and any potential investigation.
But he initiated he would have been just one voice on that team should he not have stood aside.
“Although I am the head of the organisation and I take that very seriously, I am but one small cog,” he said.Mr MacSporran referred to an earlier phone call made by Ms Trad as contact made over a Budget funding matter.
It came as MacSporran earlier said he would wait until today’s Budget Estimates hearing to respond to criticism of a call Ms Trad made to him just days after the LNP had complained over her husband’s purchase of a Woolloongabba investment property.
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The $695,000 property is located along the $5. 4 billion Cross River Rail route — Ms Trad’s key project — sparking potential conflict of interest allegations.
The LNP has written to Mr MacSporran requesting a Queen’s Counsel take over the handling of the referrals to the CCC instead.
Ms Trad referred herself to the CCC a day after making the call to Mr MacSporran.
She has insisted it was simply a courtesy call and nothing untoward.
Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has so far refused to guarantee she will stand Ms Trad aside from her role as treasurer and deputy premier should the CCC decide to launch an investigation, saying yesterday it was “not at that stage at the moment”.
“I don’t even know if it’s under assessment yet. It’s just been forwarded so I’ll wait to see what the information is,” she said.
“At the moment it hasn’t even been assessed, so let’s wait and see where it’s at.”
Ms Trad also yesterday refused to guarantee if she will voluntarily stand aside, insisting she would respond if an investigation was called.
“Let’s deal with that if it happens,” Ms Trad said.
“All of the matters are before the CCC. I will let them do their job.”
Transport Minister Mark Bailey was yesterday officially handed responsibility for Cross River Rail with Ms Trad withdrawing from any decision making on the project until the integrity scandal is resolved.
He was previously temporarily stood aside from cabinet amid a State Archivist and CCC investigation in 2017 about his use of a private email account before he was ultimately cleared of corrupt conduct and reinstated.
Opposition justice spokesman David Janetzki said Ms Trad had put Mr MacSporran in an untenable position when she called him on the weekend.
“I don’t question the integrity or the independence of Mr MacSporran,” he said.
“What I doubt and question is the integrity of Jackie Trad.”
Updates
THE state’s prisons boss has insisted taxpayers bore no extra cost to host the wedding of a convicted drug trafficker at Palen Creek Correctional Centre.
But Corrective Services Commissioner Peter Martin has conceded he had “grave reservations” about the way the wedding occurred and made assurances that a similar one would never happen again.
It came after The Courier-Mail had been told earlier this year of how prisoner Terrence John Thornbury held a wedding at the correctional centre near the Queensland-NSW border.
Under questioning at Budget Estimates, Commissioner Martin confirmed no alcohol was served at the wedding, but there was meat and seafood provided – however it was not at the cost of taxpayers.
“And in fact, an independent investigation by the Office of the Chief Inspector has not found that any food was provisioned by Queensland Corrective Services,” he said.
“There was no direct and independent labour related costs associated with the wedding is the brief that has been provided to me.”
Mr Martin said prison weddings were uncommon, with the last one in Queensland held in 2013 – which he described as a “meager affair”.
He also confirmed he had no prior knowledge of the wedding before it happened, and said the officers who gave the green light to the the wedding were “flawed in their decision making”.
“It might’ve been in accordance with the policy that existed at the time, but I don’t believe it was a
– Jack McKay
THERE were 8774 prisoners in custody across Queensland at June 30.
In response to a question about “double bunking” in prisons, Corrective Services Commissioner Peter Martin told Estimates no one had a “crystal ball” when it came to prisoner number projections.
Of the 8774 prisoners at June 30, 7918 were men and 856 were women.
Mr Martin, who said there’d been a 50 per cent increase in people being incarcerated since 2012, told Estimates 1000 bunk beds had been installed by December 2018.
“I can say however with the work that we are doing to put in place double bunks into existing cells, to bringing new cells online through Capricornia, and the commitment of a new prison at Southern Queensland Correctional Centre Phase 2, will go a long way to address the issues that we currently have and the issues that we will have in the medium term,” he said.
– Domanii Cameron
KATARINA Carroll says bubblers on the back of toilets used by children while being held in watch houses are cleaned by contracted cleaners with anti-bacterial products.
The Police Commission said at no stage had any “faecal matters” been raised by the Queensland Police Service in relation to the bubblers.
But she did confirm children had complained to the Office of the Public Guardian that they did not like drinking from the bubblers.
“There was a complaint to the OPG on the 25th of October that they thought that it was gross to drink from the bubblers,” she said.
“On the 6th of December, the bubblers were said to be dirty and built up with lime.
“And despite conversations with the children that the water is completely separate and very safe, there was a reluctance to drink from them.
“After the first complaint was received however, additional water was provided in water bottles and then the water was put into a Styrofoam cup and also given to the children at meals, as well as the milk that we spoke about before.
“So water was constantly given to the children.”
– Jack McKay
POLICE Commissioner Katarina Carroll has revealed there's been a 2 per cent increase in overall crime during the past financial year.
Ms Carroll defended the increase, saying crime “cannot be looked in isolation year upon year”.
“It needs to be looked over an extended period so we can look at the trends that are occurring in that period,” she said.
“There has been overall in the last 15 year period a 11 per cent decrease in overall crime.”
– Jack McKay
OPPOSITION frontbencher David Janetzki has accused Labor of running a “protection racket” for the Public Guardian during Estimates today.
Mr Janetzki said he was only allowed a couple of minutes to ask questions of Public Guardian Natalie Siegel-Brown who revealed there were currently 11 children in watch houses across the state.
“The Attorney-General should be ashamed of the blocking that she did today in Estimates,” he said.
“The Public Guardian was there, clearly ready to answer questions.
“What we learnt in the last couple of minutes should again disturb all Queenslanders – faecal matter in the water supply for children in watch houses is absolutely horrendous, it’s tragic.
“What we’ve seen now in just a couple minutes we had to speak with the Public Guardian after Labor ran a protection racket for her this morning, completely blocked her, it’s completely unacceptable, but what we learnt in a couple of minutes should alarm all Queenslanders – that this problem is not going away.
“We’ve got kids still in watch houses.”
– Domanii Cameron
POLICE Commissioner Katarina Carroll has insisted all prisoners held in Queensland watch houses have access to clean drinking water amid reports of children drinking from water bubblers situated above toilets.
Under questioning at Budget Estimates, Ms Carroll was unable to say how often the water bubblers were tested for faecal matter.
“However, I am informed, and I went to the watch house yesterday to get a brief in relation to the recent events that have been taking place, that every person has access to clean drinking water within their cell,” she said.
“In addition to this access, young persons are provided with clean drinking water and/or milk five times per day when meals are delivered.
“The water provided is bottled water and then dispensed into cups and all meals that are provided to young people are supplied by Youth Justice.”
Ms Carroll said there would be “some regime obviously of inspections” to determine if there was faecal matter on the bubblers.
She took the question on notice.
– Jack Mckay
OPPOSITION spokesman David Janetzki said he felt sorry for CCC boss Alan MacSporran because he was placed in an “untenable position” when Deputy Premier Jackie Trad phoned him.
Mr Janetzki this afternoon renewed calls for Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk to sack Ms Trad.
“Jackie Trad has failed the test of integrity,” he said.
“I feel sorry for the CCC chairman, he was put in an untenable position as soon as the Treasurer picked up the phone.”
The LNP frontbencher, who to his knowledge said no LNP members had personally phoned the head of the CCC, called for the file note from a third phone conversation held between Ms Trad and Mr MacSporran to be released.
Mr MacSporran revealed earlier today Ms Trad had phoned him following accusations made against herself in parliament over corruption at the Ipswich City Council and what she knew.
– Domanii Cameron
OVER 100 Queensland corrective services staff have been attacked by prisoners in the past two years, including more than a dozen who had to spend at least a night in hospital.
Police Minister Mark Ryan revealed today there had been 85 assaults on prison staff in the past year – a 55 per cent jump from the 55 attacks reported in 2017.
Among them were 13 assaults so serious the corrective services officer had to be taken to hospital for overnight treatment.
In response to a question on notice, Mr Ryan said the Government had zero tolerance for violence.
“The safety of every Queensland Corrective Services officer is paramount and great efforts are made to ensure every officer returns home safely at the end of their shift,” he said.
“Queensland Corrective Services assures me that whenever an assault takes place the Queensland Police Service is notified and each time the subsequent investigation provides sufficient evidence, charges are laid.
“Prisoners who assault a Corrective Services officer face significant penalties including the potential for a further term of imprisonment.”
Borallon Training and Correctional Centre had 23 assaults reported in the past two years, while there were 19 assaults at the Brisbane Correctional Centre and 21 at the Authur Gorrie Correctional Centre.
– Jack McKay
THERE are currently 11 children in watch houses across Queensland.
It comes after Child Safety Minister Di Farmer declared there were no children in the Brisbane City Watch House on July 17.
Public Guardian Natalie Siegel-Brown has told Estimates it was true the numbers were as high as 86 two months ago.
“Today I understand the number of children in watch houses across Queensland is 11,” she said.
“I’ve noted that over the last two to three weeks, the number has varied between six and 14 children.
“Most of the time these children are not held in Brisbane City Watch House although I do note that this week two young girls were held in Brisbane City Watch House for two days.
“The children that I am now seeing in the watch houses are located in the regions across Queensland.”
Ms Siegel-Brown said she was advised about a month ago that Mt Isa, Cairns and Townsville watch houses would begin receiving support from youth justice staff.
– Domanii Cameron
ATTORNEY-GENERAL Yvette D’Ath has slammed the LNP’s new ‘diamond membership’, claiming it was a “sad reflection on the lack of transparency”.
The party recently created the new membership category to ensure developers could still be part of the party amid Labor’s donation ban.
Ms D’Ath told Estimates she was very disappointed the scheme had been established “conveniently” with a price of “$990 being the threshold of $1000 for a real time disclosure”.
She also quoted the LNP's acting president David Hutchinson; "For those wondering what this is all about, this is a class of membership that’s allowed under current state legislation that effectively prohibits property developers from participating in our party".
Ms D'Ath said it was clear what the intent of the membership was, "and that is so the LNP can continue to collect money from developers and not, because it’s a membership and not a donation, not have to disclose it.
“No Queenslander will ever know how many property developers are joining up in that membership and who they are.
“That is disappointing because it’s one thing to find loopholes around laws but to do it so blatantly and to do it so the public don’t know who is giving money to the LNP and how many of them I think is a sad reflection on the lack of transparency.”
– Domanii Cameron
