Editor’s view: Clock is ticking on Minister Mick de Brenni
Yesterday in this column we urged Premier Steven Miles to show the strength his predecessor Annastacia Palaszczuk could not and sack an underperforming minister, writes the Editor.
Opinion
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Yesterday in this column we urged Premier Steven Miles to show the strength his predecessor Annastacia Palaszczuk could not and sack an underperforming minister – in this case Energy Minister Mick de Brenni.
Revelations from the draft Brady report this week into the 2021 explosion at the Callide power station have been damaging, but that hasn’t stopped Mr Miles from attempting to switch blame to the previous government rather than hold a relevant minister to account.
He was at it again yesterday, saying “cultural issues” at plant operator CS Energy were a factor, as well as cost cutting between 2012 and 2015 – the LNP’s time in power.
So how will he explain away our exclusive revelation today that CS Energy had warned in 2019 that maintenance was being neglected at its plants – concerns that were not addressed until a year after the Callide explosion that cut power to 500,000 properties and saw a jump in power bills across the state.
One day after the explosion, Mr de Brenni, who took over the energy portfolio in 2020, told parliament all required work at Callide had been completed. “We can guarantee that all of the maintenance work that is required to be done on all of our power stations has been done,” he said.
Hmm. We will wait to see the Premier’s response with interest.
Originally published as Editor’s view: Clock is ticking on Minister Mick de Brenni
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