One storm too many for fierce deputy Jackie Trad

Jackie Trad’s downfall as deputy premier of Queensland has plunged the government she dominated into a crisis that will endure.

From left, Education Minister Grace Grace, Inner City South Secondary College principal Kirsten Ferdinands and Jackie Trad.

Jackie Trad’s stunning downfall as deputy premier and treasurer of Queensland has plunged the government she dominated into a crisis that will dog it all the way to its day of reckoning with voters.

The clock is ticking: the October 31 state election, when Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk will go for a third consecutive term, is only 173 days away, a big ask.

Some on the Labor side say that the Crime and Corruption Commission has done the government a favour by forcing Ms Trad to quit her frontline roles because of the perceived drag she exerted on its vote.

They’re kidding themselves. This is a disaster of epic proportions for Ms Palaszczuk, costing her a hard-driving lieutenant whose grip on the purse strings was never more sorely needed as the bills from the COVID-19 pandemic pile up, adding another unwanted zero to state debt, which is on track to hit $100bn.

And it all stems from an anonymous 101-word letter sent to the state opposition last September blowing the whistle on purported irregularities in the recruitment of a principal for the new Inner City South Secondary College in her electorate of South Brisbane.

The job had originally gone to a woman named Tracey Cook, who Ms Trad subsequently met in her ministerial office alongside a senior Education Department official. Ms Trad insists there was nothing unusual or improper in this.

But the position was readvertised and the second-ranked contender behind Ms Cook, Kirsten Ferdinands, got the nod. Same ­selection panel, same field, different outcome.

Last November, in the face of a furore in state parliament over the tangled selection process, Queensland Education Department director-general Tony Cook issued a statement explaining that demographic modelling came in after the selection of Ms Cook (no relation) showing enrolments at the school would exceed 1600 students. This persuaded the department to reopen applications for the principal’s position so higher-ranked candidates could be considered.

But the state opposition says documentation obtained through a right-to-information request reveals the modelling was actually done prior to Tracey Cook’s initial selection. Ms Trad also admitted in state parliament she had had a telephone conversation with Ms Ferdinands before the woman was announced as the successful candidate — adding weight to the LNP’s claims the then minister was elbow-deep in what was supposed to be a hands-off process.

Vehemently denying any wrongdoing, Ms Trad said on ­Saturday that none of the applicants was known to her in any ­capacity, “personal, political or professional” and nor had she expressed a view to anyone on who should get the job.

“I will co-operate fully with this investigation,” she said.

“It will provide me with an opportunity to set the record straight on this matter.”

Humble pie is not to Ms Trad’s taste. She revels in her reputation as the hardwoman of the state ­government, the power behind the genial, voter-friendly visage Ms Palaszczuk presents.

The Premier initially indulged her headstrong deputy, saying on Saturday she would assume Ms Trad’s responsibilities while she was out of action. But within 24 hours Ms Palaszczuk was back before the cameras announcing that Ms Trad had resigned all her positions in the government in the best interests of her family, the community and the ALP.

Where this leaves a state government that was already struggling in the polls is anyone’s guess. In addition to holding the Treasury portfolio, Ms Trad was minister for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander partnerships and could call on experience and contacts amassed through running other key departments including transport, infrastructure and trade and investment.

No major decision was taken without her imprimatur.

Behind the scenes, Ms Trad’s iron-fisted control of Labor’s parliamentary Left buttressed the government’s intrinsically unstable factional underpinnings.

Ms Palaszczuk is of the Labor Right, yet the Left has the numbers in cabinet, caucus and the wider party councils, as shown on Sunday by the promotion to the deputy premiership of the amiable but uninspiring Steven Miles, next in line to Ms Trad in the faction.

This is what saved her last year when the CCC zeroed in on her failure to declare a $700,000 investment home purchased when she held ministerial responsibility for the state’s biggest infrastructure project, Cross River Rail, in a corner of her inner-city seat where property values were set to benefit from the $5.4bn development.

While the CCC ultimately found that Ms Trad had not acted corruptly or dishonestly, any other minister would have been toast by the time the assessment came down after weeks of damaging headlines. Ms Trad kept her job, though she was stripped of oversight of Cross River Rail.

Apologising for the “mistake”, she said her husband had bought the house through their family company, and she didn’t immediately cotton on because they were both “busy people”. But the government was forced to act on a CCC recommendation to elevate to a criminal offence any future intentional failure by a minister to declare a conflict of interest, punishable by up to two years’ jail.

Ms Palaszczuk baulked at moving against her powerful deputy then, when she should have. Ms Trad again tried to keep her options open with Saturday’s announcement that she would stand aside, not resign. But the writing was on the wall for her ministerial career, just as it may be in lineball South Brisbane where the LNP’s decision to preference the Greens ahead of Labor on October 31 is likely to cost her the seat.

Ms Trad insisted on Saturday that she would recontest but her colleagues are not entirely convinced. One senior Labor MP said: “I don’t think there is any coming back for her. I can’t see why she would run.” Another made the point: “I’m no particular fan of Jackie but I wouldn’t write her off.”

None of those canvassed by The Australian would go on the ­record with criticism of Ms Trad, such is her fearsome reputation. “She does what she wants and you could say it’s now caught up with her,” a third MP said.

“I’m not surprised she went. I think she had to.”

Did Ms Palaszczuk finally force the issue? Opinion within caucus is divided. But two new imperatives counted strongly against Ms Trad. As the Premier inferred, the government could not afford the “distraction” of another integrity row in the teeth of the pandemic. She said Ms Trad recognised this.

The proximity of the state election clearly focused minds. Marginal-seat MPs were telling the Premier’s office that it was two strikes and out for Ms Trad. Gary Bullock, the head of the powerful United Workers Union who orchestrated the defection to the parliamentary Left of right-wing MP Jim Madden last week, training unwanted attention on the unedifying factional manoeuvring, is said by one insider to have “accepted the logic” that Ms Trad’s position was untenable, though this could not be confirmed.

Ms Palaszczuk’s declaration that she had taken “swift and decisive” action to reallocate Ms Trad’s portfolios and reshuffle the ministry was made from a position of weakness, not strength.

Yet for all her clout, acumen and raw ability, time was up for Ms Trad, and they both knew it.