Treasury to investigate suspension of Gladstone Port worker who asked Bill Shorten tax question

An internal Treasury probe has been ordered into why Gladstone Port suspended a worker.

An engineer talks to Labor leader Bill Shorten about high income tax relief. Picture: Kym Smith

An internal Treasury investigation has been ordered into the move by the Labor government-owned Gladstone Port Corporation to suspend a worker who put Bill Shorten on the spot over his tax plans at a campaign event.

After being grilled by the state opposition in parliament today, premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said the “head of the treasury department” - Under Treasurer Frankie Carroll — would be conducting an investigation into the circumstances of the electrical engineer’s suspension.

Treasurer Jackie Trad, who appointed Mr Carroll to the role in February, later said the state government played no role in the suspension, condemned by senior cabinet ministers after it was revealed earlier this week by The Courier-Mail.

“The Treasury Department will absolutely have a look at the application of the Port’s policies in response to this particular incident,” she told reporters today.

The Gladstone Port Corporation is already facing investigation by Treasury, which has oversight over the facility in central Queensland, after complaints were made to the Crime and Corruption Commission “raising concerns about administration’’.

Port officials denied on Monda­y that they had suspended the Gladstone electrical engineer who questioned the Opposition Leader over ALP’s increased tax on top-tier income earners.

The father of three had his work pass cancelled and desk cleared the day after he told Mr Shorten, during an April 23 campaig­n event at the local port, that some of his colleagues earning $250,000 for working nights ­deserved a tax break.

State Transport Minister Mark Bailey told parliament the port did not take any direct action against the worker, a consultant employed by contractor Welcon Technol­ogies. Instead, Mr Bailey told parliame­nt, the port “raised concern­s about his conduct’’ at the event, before it “suspended a contrac­t with the company while the matter was investigated’’.

But the worker disputed that the port didn’t effectively suspend him, telling The Australian it was a “single-person contract’’ and only related to him.

The worker, who is about to start a new job, said there had been no intention of lifting the suspension to allow him back to work.

“The port removed my pass, had my desk cleared and my person­al belongings sent to me … they had no intention of me comin­g back,’’ he said. “It was only when there were media inquiries that they lifted my suspension.’’

On Monday, the port issued a statement saying “it did not suspen­d a port worker or terminate their contract for talking to Opposition Leader Bill Shorten, as has been suggested by media commenta­tors’’.

The links of the port corporation’s management and board to both sides of politics has been made for decades.