Premier Steven Miles frustrated as report into Callide C explosion delayed

A report that’s set to provide answers to the cause of the explosion that crippled Queensland’s Callide C power station almost three years ago has not been seen by Premier Steven Miles.

A taxpayer funded independent report into the explosion that crippled one of Queensland’s largest power station will finally be released - but only after the Federal Court ordered the handover.

Premier Steven Miles insisted he had not seen forensic engineer Sean Brady’s report into Callide C, despite the state government asking for its release.

Mr Miles, asked why it took the Federal Court to force the release of the report, said the state government was “frustrated in the delay” in not being provided the report.

“We’ve wanted it for some time to see it, to make it public,” he said.

“We’re frustrated in the delay.

“The minister tried that, the minister wrote and asked for the report to be provided and yet I still haven’t seen it.”

Premier Steven Miles expressed frustration over the delayed release of the Callide C explosion report. Picture: Tertius Pickard

Deputy Opposition Leader Jarrod Bleijie slammed the government for failing to release the report.

“It shouldn’t be a federal court having to order the state government to be accountable. The Premier should be accountable to the people of Queensland,” he said.

Dr Brady was commissioned in June 2021 by Queensland government-owned CS Energy, which operated the plant, to examine the root causes of the explosion, but no final report has yet been made public.

After three years of secrecy, the broad-ranging court orders may finally bring some answers to the energy market, and for taxpayers that own the plant through the Queensland government-controlled CS Energy.

The court orders require Dr Brady to produce any draft report prepared as a result of his investigation, and sent to CS Energy, but also copies of all correspondence between the forensic engineers and his taskmasters at the state-owned energy company.

Dr Brady has also been directed to provide a copy of the terms of reference and scope of his initial brief – which has never before been made public – as well as all documents he has collected along the way, and copies of any interview transcripts or recordings conducted as part of the investigation.

COAL FIRED: Callide Power Stations B and C.

The secrecy surrounding the Brady report has become a festering sore for the Queensland Labor government as it approaches this year’s state election, after a failure to deliver on repeated promises of an imminent release of the review.

The court action seeking the documents was brought by FTI Consulting’s John Parks, appointed in January as a special administrator to the private company that owned half of the plant, with a brief to fully investigate its causes.

Callide C is the fifth-largest coal-fired power station in Queensland and the loss of Unit C4, excluding the loss of Unit C3 in November 2022 in a separate incident, has cost CS Energy hundreds of millions of dollars.

The financial impact borne by the state-owned company has been detailed in documents filed to the federal court as part of CS Energy’s lawsuit against its insurers for alleged breach of good faith, policies, and a failure to indemnify.

It can be revealed CS Energy’s loss of profit due to the inability to run Unit C4 was a total of $317.8m until August 2023, with the company seeking to claw back $214.8m of it from insurers.

And CS Energy’s share of rebuilding Unit C4 was about $102m excluding GST, as of mid-2023.

Annual reports also show CS Energy has not paid out a dividend to the government since the 2019-2020 financial year, when it handed over $73.9m.

Originally published as Premier Steven Miles frustrated as report into Callide C explosion delayed