Damning review turns up heat on Palaszczuk
The Qld premier’s outsourcing of her 2020 re-election campaign to lobbyists undermined public confidence in government decision-making.
Annastacia Palaszczuk’s outsourcing of the running of her successful 2020 re-election campaign to lobbyists undermines public confidence in the decisions of government, according to a review into integrity issues in Queensland.
An interim report by Peter Coaldrake, who restructured the Queensland public service in the late 1980s, has warned of the growing influence of lobbyists on the Palaszczuk government, the “overreach” of political staffers, and a culture of fear among bureaucrats in giving advice to ministers.
The former Queensland University of Technology vice-chancellor was appointed by Ms Palaszczuk in February to conduct a four-month review into “culture and accountability in the public sector”.
It was ordered after weeks of sustained pressure in the face of allegations of interference in the work of the state’s integrity watchdogs, including that of Integrity Commissioner Nikola Stepanov and former state archivist Mike Summerell.
In his report, released late on Thursday, Professor Coaldrake identified numerous concerns raised in submissions, witness interviews and already-public revelations about the conduct in ministerial offices and outside influence on the top levels of the state government.
Professor Coaldrake cited the influence of lobbyists, as well as in-house consultants – “incidental lobbyists” – who are poorly regulated because of vague reporting requirements.
He made reference to the use of lobbyists to run political campaigns while lobbying the government on behalf of their clients.
Professor Coaldrake’s comments follow revelations by The Australian in its investigative “Mates State” series that detailed Ms Palaszczuk’s engagement of two of the two state’s top lobbyists – former ALP state secretaries Evan Moorhead and Cameron Milner – to run her re-election campaign in 2020.
“Unfortunately, there is declining confidence that governments across the board are making the best decisions rather than decisions influenced by those with the most effective voice,” Professor Coaldrake said.
“In Queensland recently, this has been accentuated by the dual roles of some lobbyists – acting for clients to influence government, then acting for political parties to help them win elections.
“This can leave the public sceptical about even the strongest protections against conflict.”
Professor Coaldrake said he had been given examples of the “fraying” culture of accountability among public servants who tailor advice to appease ministers out of fear of losing their jobs.
“There is a view, repeatedly shared, that public service advice is too often shaped to suit what are assumed to be the preconceptions of the people receiving it, that the price for frank and fearless advice can be too high and the rewards too low, and that there is reluctance to depart from what is perceived to be the ‘official line’,” Professor Coaldrake said.
“The examples given are not isolated, nor are they confined to singular pockets of government.”
Examples included ministerial staffers pressuring public servants to provide responses to questions that “minimise problems”.
There is also a culture of discouraging public servants from providing written advice on difficult topics so that ministers can claim deniability, the review found. “Examples included instances of senior public servants directing employees to sanitise advice and alter recommendations to align with what was presumed to be the minister’s position,” Professor Coaldrake said. “Another example included a director-general taking steps to prevent a report from ‘reaching the minister’s ears’ so as to ensure that the minister could continue to plausibly deny knowledge of the matter.”
Professor Coaldrake said the culture of fear and apprehension within departments prevented public servants from providing “frank and fearless advice”.
He identified the use of inexperienced staffers within ministerial officers and their proclivity to direct public servants to undertake certain tasks.
“There has also been some suggestion of an erosion of the important division between the protective instincts of staffers and public servants’ obligations of impartiality,’’ he said.
Opposition Leader David Crisafulli said the interim findings were alarming and warranted a commission of inquiry into the government’s integrity. “The report raises far more questions than it does answers and falls shockingly short of what is needed to clean up the corruption running rife through the Queensland government,” he said. “Queenslanders can no longer trust this Labor government.
“Only a royal commission has the power to further explore the issues raised by the report.”
Deputy Premier Steven Miles said the report was an “important step forward” towards a modernised public service.
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