Labor votes to keep Jackie Trad court costs secret

Labor MPs are keeping secret how much taxpayer money is being spent on Jackie Trad’s fight to suppress findings from a corruption watchdog report.

Former Queensland deputy premier Jackie Trad. Picture: Peter Wallis

Labor MPs are keeping secret how much taxpayer money is being spent on Jackie Trad’s legal fight to suppress findings from a corruption watchdog report.

Ms Trad last year took the extraordinary step of seeking a court order to block the release of a Crime and Corruption Commission report investigating whether she ­improperly intervened in the ­appointment of a top public ­servant. Ms Trad has denied wrongdoing.

After questioning from the Liberal National Party last month, the CCC provided a letter to its parliamentary oversight committee detailing legal fees it incurred during Ms Trad’s Supreme Court action.

Four Labor MPs on Tuesday voted to keep the letter secret.

Deputy LNP Leader Jarrod Bleijie accused the Labor backbenchers – Jonty Bush, Jess Pugh, Corrine McMillan and Ali King – of running a “protection racket” for Ms Trad, who lost her seat at the 2020 state election.

“Jackie still controls them,” Mr Bleijie said.

Ms Bush argued to the Labor-dominated committee that the costs should be kept secret because Ms Trad’s matter was still before the court.

“There will be a time when it will be appropriate to release that, our view is that is not now,” she said.

Mr Bleijie said the CCC was best placed to know what information should be released publicly.

“There is a matter before the court, but revealing the legal cost to the taxpayer that the CCC has spent in court does nothing to impact the case before the court,” he said.

“I could not believe the Labor members voted against transparency when the CCC themselves were happy for it to be publicly released.

“Labor members continue the protection racket for Jackie Trad.”

The CCC’s fees are only part of the bill taxpayers will foot for Ms Trad’s court action.

Legal bills for the former deputy premier and treasurer are also being covered by the state government under legal indemnity provisions for ministers.

The discretionary decision to pay for the legal action, under the existing guidelines, was approved by Ms Palaszczuk and ­Attorney-General Shannon Fentiman, a close left factional ally of Ms Trad.

Ms Palaszczuk has previously said she could not detail the costs of the ­action, partly because they were not totalled until the end of the court case.

A court order blocking reporting of Ms Trad’s Supreme Court action was lifted in March after a direct appeal a day earlier by The Australian to outgoing Chief Justice Catherine Holmes.

Labor’s push to suppress the legal fees follows a similar move taken by backbenchers earlier this year to block the release of secret documents detailing Ms Palaszczuk’s decision to refer Queensland’s integrity watchdog to a separate parliamentary oversight committee.

Ms Palaszczuk referred Integrity Commissioner Nikola Stepanov to the committee last April, over historic misconduct complaints centring on the use of a credit card and unspecified bullying.

The two-year-old allegations against Dr Stepanov had already been assessed and dismissed by the CCC when Ms Palaszczuk asked the Economics and Governance Committee to consider if they needed further investigation.

The Premier made the referral two weeks after Dr Stepanov raised concerns of high-level ­interference in her role regulating lobbyists and advising MPs and public servants on conflicts of interest.