Fellow minister’s train budget blues ‘clearly a distraction’: Fentiman

Health Minister Shannon Fentiman has described the saga gripping her government’s management of a $2.4 billion dollar train budget blowout as a distraction, as party mates vent ahead of Tuesday’s return to parliament.

The Labor Left faction colleague of Transport Minister Mark Bailey made the comments in response to questions about the political damage caused by the issue while opening the Redlands Satellite Hospital on Monday.

Health Minister Shannon Fentiman said the government was now ‘getting on’ talking about other initiatives.Credit: AAP

“Look, clearly it has been a distraction,” Fentiman told reporters. “But [Bailey] I think has been, you know, really accountable – has stood up and taken responsibility and apologised.

“And let’s not forget this is all about making trains here in Queensland.”

The Queensland Train Manufacturing Program was first floated by Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk ahead of the 2020 state election to deliver dozens of new passenger trains from a dedicated facility in Maryborough.

But the government’s handling of cost increase from an earlier $7.1 billion to $9.5 billion, signed-off by cabinet’s budget review committee in mid-May but not proactively revealed by Palaszczuk or Bailey, has overshadowed the work of late.

Palaszczuk’s director-general Rachel Hunter had also been tasked with investigating an email from Bailey’s ministerial office to the Transport Department making “suggestions” about its use of the correct figure.

Carried out by independent barrister John McKenna KC, the review published on Monday ultimately cleared Bailey’s office of any attempted or explicit direction to public servants.

Bailey has conceded a joint media release with Palaszczuk in late June using the incorrect earlier figure was a “stuff-up”.

The cost increase has been attributed to maintenance over a 35-year period, a factor also pointed to when the $7.1 billion figure was announced in October 2021.

Some Labor backbenchers have aired their frustrations about the saga in a News Corp report on Monday.

Party MPs will gather for caucus meeting later in the day before the first regular parliamentary sitting week since May starts on Tuesday.

The story also featured comment from a “senior government MP” who reportedly described the issue as a damaging distraction, but unlikely to result in any move against Bailey by Palaszczuk.

Asked about such frustrations and what the government or cabinet could do about them, Fentiman told reporters “there will be a discussion today”.

Bailey was temporarily stood aside as minister in 2017 over the Mangocube saga, involving the use and deletion of a private email account, but ultimately avoided prosecution by the Crime and Corruption Commission.