Today marks one year to the day since the landmark integrity review Let the Sunshine In was handed down by Professor Coaldrake.
One year on, the Palaszczuk Labor Government has failed to deliver the “lock, stock and barrel” reform they promised.
One year on, a paralysing culture of fear in the public service is still running rampant through the Palaszczuk Government.
One year on, the Premier is still desperately attempting to keep Queenslanders in the dark, instead of letting the sun shine in.
This report was written a year ago, but it could have been written today.
This week we’ve seen appalling attempts by the Palaszczuk Government and senior public servants to hunt down public service whistleblowers.
Regardless of recent public denials, the damage is already done.
Whistleblowers will be less likely to come forward, which was clearly the goal of the Palaszczuk Government all along.
The Palaszczuk Labor Government’s integrity has been engulfed by their chaos and crisis.
Queenslanders still can’t see Cabinet documents, there is still no Clearing House for complaints and Commercial-In-Confidence is still being used to hide government decisions.
We can’t afford to wait years for this dodgy, rotten Government to make the sweeping integrity reforms that are needed and they promised.
If they can’t fix the integrity crisis within their Government, they certainly can’t be trusted to fixing the crises they created in housing, health and crime.
The Coaldrake Report uncovered serious integrity issues in the Palaszczuk Government, including:
- No transparency for Cabinet decisions or documents.
- Shocking lobbyist influence on Government decision making, including some lobbyists “dual hatting” as Labor campaigners.
- Ministerial staffers bullying State Government bureaucrats and an atmosphere of fear in the Queensland Public Service.
- Inadequate independence for integrity authorities to assess and investigate serious complaints and corruption.
- Using ‘commercial-in-confidence’ to hide project costs from taxpayers.
- Government attempts to suppress public records and subvert RTI processes.
- No transparency or processes to reveal data and privacy breaches for citizens.
- Unnecessary Machinery of Government changes impacting the delivery of frontline services and costing millions in taxpayer money.
- Inadequate protections for government whistleblowers.
