Editorial: CCC findings on principal appointment a cause for concern
Far from the vindication claimed by the fallen treasurer, a CCC report into the appointment of a school principal is cause for concern for all Queenslanders.
QLD News
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ALARM bells should ring for all Queenslanders when a Crime and Corruption Commission report both quotes extensively from the Fitzgerald inquiry and includes a detailed study of the importance of the separation of powers.
Yesterday’s damning – and quite distressing – “report into allegations relating to the appointment of a school principal” does both.
What not to do: The report every public servant needs to read
‘I’m a victim of a witch hunt’: Vindicated Jackie Trad responds
The 176-page, 706-paragraph report paints in detail a picture of a public service so in thrall and/or scared of the executive branch that hardly a murmur is raised when the rules are repeatedly broken in a bid to deliver an outcome that the bureaucrats think a minister wants.
Instead of delivering the frank and fearless advice that the tried-and-true Westminster system of government demands, what we see as the CCC steps through the narrative are high-level public servants that should know better tying themselves in knots over a ministerial bollocking they haven’t had but are confident “will come” – and then the deeply concerning attempts to cover it all up.
As the CCC writes of its report: “It exposes how one senior public servant’s over-responsiveness to a politician resulted in decision-making being infected by perceived political influence, and how that politician allowed herself to be involved in departmental decision-making processes.”
Consequently this sordid affair should be a wake-up call to every public servant that they should be courageous enough to always guard their sacred independence against influence from politicians.
While the CCC cleared the former minister of corruption, the report itself should be made required reading for every one of our state’s public servants as a reminder of how bad things can go for you – not the politician – when that independence is forgotten.
The report concludes by listing 10 poor choices made by the key players in the sorry saga – including former deputy premier Jackie Trad.
But that list, the report makes clear, is not exhaustive – and instead simply indicative of a far longer list of failures “to act in good faith towards ... the principles of fair and transparent decision-making”.
And so to Ms Trad. The report does not find any evidence that, as was claimed, she told the Education Department “no way” in relation to a principal it had selected to lead a new high school in her electorate.
This investigation does indeed clear Ms Trad of that accusation.
But the report also reveals she set in train the whole affair by seeking on March 12 last year a briefing from the Education Department on the principal recruitment.
That request led to the department’s deputy director-general Jeff Hunt asking an adviser in a text message if the already endorsed principal had been “ ‘interviewed’ – that is meet – the deputy premier before appointing”.
The CCC says that is an example of a senior public servant being over-responsive or oversensitive to the perceived wishes of their political masters – and “the risk of it occurring is something all ministers ... should be mindful of”.
“The deputy premier, as a senior government minister, had a significant capacity to influence decision-makers – even indirectly and unintentionally,” the CCC report says.
“Ministers in the position of the deputy premier must be aware of his capacity to influence.
“If they engage in conduct that is designed to influence, they should know that it is improper.”
Ms Trad held the meeting, at which she was described as being “unhappy” and “in a bad mood”.
The CCC blasts her for attending, when she had been warned (45 minutes before) that the candidate had not yet been advised of her selection, that was later overturned.
But the CCC found no evidence the then deputy premier expressed any opinion to departmental officers about the merits of the endorsed principal until after Ms Trad was told a week later that the department planned to readvertise the position.
However it does label as “completely inappropriate” a conversation Ms Trad then had about another – unsuccessful – candidate with a member of the selection panel (UQ vice-chancellor Peter Hoj) after it was reconvened.
“There is no prima facie case that the Deputy Premier has committed a criminal offence or that she was motivated by any dishonest or corrupt intent,” the CCC concludes.
“Notwithstanding this, the nature of her involvement in (departmental) decision-making created a corruption risk.”
This, then, is not the vindication Ms Trad yesterday claimed.
Originally published as Editorial: CCC findings on principal appointment a cause for concern