Late apology shows how seriously Jackie Trad takes her responsibility to the House

Deputy Premier Jackie Trad claims to take her “responsibilities to the House seriously” but it was her failure to provide Parliament an accurate of account of her financial affairs seriously which caused the integrity saga in the first place, writes Steven Wardill.

IN her apology to State Parliament yesterday over her property purchase scandal, Deputy Premier Jackie Trad made the claim that “I take my responsibilities to the House seriously”.

Seriously? Just who is she trying to kid?

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It was Trad’s failure to take her responsibility to provide Parliament with an accurate account of her financial affairs seriously which caused this whole saga to begin with.

Deputy Premier Jackie Trad has finally apologised to the house for her property purchase scandal. Picture: AAP/Glenn Hunt

This has forced the introduction of extraordinary new laws which will make criminals out of her colleagues if they repeat her failures.

And Trad’s proclamation about how seriously she takes her responsibilities can’t be taken seriously when her apology came belatedly and under duress.

There were 82 days and three sitting weeks between when the Crime and Corruption Commission lambasted Trad’s actions and her eventual apology to Parliament.

Instead of seizing one of the countless opportunities she’s had with a microphone in front of her, Trad has tried to mount the case of why an apology in Parliament was not necessary.

She claimed her previous apology on the Parliament lawn should suffice and obtained legal advice which apparently argues she had no undisclosed conflicts of interest to say sorry for.

Speaker Curtis Pitt referred Jackie Trad to the Ethics Committee.

Only after Speaker Curtis Pitt took the extraordinary step last week of referring the matter to Parliament’s powerful Ethics Committee did Trad decide it was probably prudent to apologise in Parliament.

Take her responsibilities seriously?

The claim would be laughable if the circumstances weren’t so serious.