Bleijie declares conflict of interest over Sunshine Coast rail project

Deputy Premier Jarrod Bleijie has taken advice on how to manage a personal conflict of interest over the Sunshine Coast rail project.

Bleijie, the minister for State Development, Infrastructure and Planning and Industrial Relations, declared the conflict in routine forms required to be completed by all MPs.

Bleijie told parliament he owned a property at Aroona which was adjacent to the rail corridor but, according to the Department of Transport and Main Roads, might be resumed for the project.

Deputy Premier Jarrod Bleijie in state parliament.Credit: Jamila Filippone

According to documents tabled in parliament on Tuesday, the five-acre property is Bleijie’s principal place of residence, with about 650 square metres under threat.

The department advised Bleijie, the LNP member for Kawana, in August that his property “may be materially impacted”. He updated the pecuniary interests register that month, and said he declared his interest in a subsequent meeting with department officials.

The LNP won the October 26 election, making Bleijie the second-most powerful person in government, with control over the Sunshine Coast rail project.

“At all stages I have been receiving advice from the integrity commissioner and the clerk of the parliament,” Bleijie said.

On the commissioner’s recommendation, Bleijie was provided with a conflict management plan he said was executed in November.

The revelation came as Bleijie continued to call on the federal Labor government to help fund a rail extension to Maroochydore, and accused the former state Labor government of mismanaging the project.

In opposition, Bleijie was highly critical of then-deputy premier Jackie Trad for failing to disclose her husband’s purchase of a Woolloongabba house. He argued it could have increased in value because of the Cross River Rail project she was overseeing, as well as a new public school in her electorate.

After a complaint from the LNP, the Crime and Corruption Commission investigated Trad over the issue and found no evidence to support a reasonable suspicion of corrupt conduct.

Shortly after, the CCC launched an investigation into Trad’s involvement in the appointment of a new principal for the school. It found no evidence of a criminal offence or that Trad had been motivated by “any dishonest or corrupt intent”.

Trad, who lost the seat of South Brisbane in 2020, took legal action to prevent the release of another CCC report in relation to the appointment of an under treasurer, as did former public trustee and Labor figure Peter Carne over an unrelated report.

The government will this week introduce legislation to allow the CCC to report on such matters, with Premier David Crisafulli reiterating the LNP’s commitment to restore the watchdog’s powers.

“It was muzzled, and it is going to be unshackled to do its job: to keep the powerful in check, to make sure that the voiceless have a voice,” Crisafulli said this week.

“And if they do a report, it shouldn’t be buried because the report is about a mate.”

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