Welcome to Brisbane Times’ Queensland public sector column, Public Circus. This week: more board overhauls, what’s in a “frontline” role, auditors eye minerals push, Sosso departs, and more.
Another week, another 6pm Friday board overhaul from Deputy Premier Jarrod Bleijie. There was no union purge this time, but there were some new plum jobs for the LNP-aligned.
While the South Bank Corporation Board’s members weren’t up for renewal (or removal) until December 31, Bleijie has swept the governing body, using law changes rammed through last month.
These allowed Bleijie to remove directors without needing pesky reasons – similar to a move pulled by Crisafulli and Co for their overhaul of hospital and health service boards back in March.
Among the casualties over at South Bank were chair Susan Forrester AM, and (as predicted by Circus) Dr Aysin Dedekorkut-Howes, now sacked from her second government-appointed body.
And who, you may ask, has replaced the unlucky directors? You might recognise new chair Karen Howard from her other government-appointed gig chairing the Brisbane Housing Company.
Some north of the Tweed may not be so familiar with her history running for state and federal seats as a candidate under the NSW Liberals banner about a decade ago. Well, here’s your heads up.
Former federal Liberal MP for Brisbane-turned-(interim) container refund chief Trevor Evans has also joined the board, which includes eight state and two Brisbane City Council appointments.
Others include one-time journo, now head of advocacy for the local government lobby, Sarah Vogler, former Brisbane LNP councillor Matthew Bourke, Tennis Australia’s Elia Hill, and Liam McMahon.
Bleijie said the appointments would ensure the riverfront location managed and developed by the corporation was “ready to welcome the world” when the Olympics descend in 2032.
The corporation is yet to respond to questions Circus sent its way last week, let alone today’s batch. Our attempts to reach sacked board members are also yet to come to fruition.
Only last week, Bleijie’s office told us the law tweaks he pushed through sans parliamentary scrutiny were simply standardising appointment frameworks.
We must have looked like we came down in the last shower. (Still, we don’t suggest anyone landing one of the new gigs is unsuitable.)
On Monday, a spokesperson offered little more to justify the rush other than saying the government was appointing highly qualified figures “to help drive better outcomes for the state, rather than maintaining the status quo appointed under the former Labor government”. Ouch.
Has Health trimmed IT and tech staff from its “frontline”?
This column has written much of the hiring squeeze across (most) government departments, which have been tightening approval policies to trim headcounts through an unspoken attrition push.
Department spinners and government figures have often been keen to point out when the new hiring hurdles have been applied only to roles away from the so-called “frontline”.
This made us wonder: what is deemed frontline, who decides it, and how does this factor into the squeeze? Well, we now have some insight.
The Circus tent has caught wind that Queensland Health’s recently implemented “responsible corporate workforce management” changes may have reclassified some staff.
The IT and technical roles previously in the “frontline” bucket are now no longer deemed as such in David Rosengren’s department, we hear.
This is part of where the government’s focus on such labels begins to come unstuck. Without those away from the so-called frontline, the frontline falls apart.
We’ve reached out to the health department, a spokesperson for which said staff providing “essential” ICT services were deemed “frontline support” and exempt from the squeeze. Hmm.
Know more about what’s going on in this space within health and beyond? Drop us a confidential line with the details down below.
Department corrects the record on crime prevention school selection
Eyebrows were raised in the Circus tent when Youth Justice Minister Laura Gerber unveiled the successful provider for a promised early intervention program in Ipswich last month.
It was here she described the selection of Y Schools to run one of the $50-million program’s three outstanding sites as coming from an “extensive tender process”.
Having ourselves reported mere months ago that what had been an extensive tender process had been torn up before “direct market engagement” by the department, you can imagine our surprise.
(Though with a wider view of what’s going on in youth justice land, maybe we shouldn’t have been.)
We have fired off some questions to both Gerber and the for-now Michael Drane-helmed department to try and extract some clarity on the situation.
Gerber confirmed that, yes, that extensive tender process she spruiked last month “included direct market engagement”.
A department spokesperson was more forthcoming, however, acknowledging the tender process “progressed to direct market engagement”. There you have it.
While we’re on the topic, some eagle-eyed Circus folk say there’s more to the recently announced Circuit Breaker Sentencing than meets the eye, too.
The department actually opened what Gerber described to parliament as “market engagement” on that $80 million program for a brief period late last year – then, crickets.
That was until the emergence of new expressions of interest and a bill introduced by Gerber to shore up the legalities of sentencing kids to what is essentially non-government run remote location detention.
What does the department say about what’s gone on there? A spokesperson says the call-out last year was “market sounding” to “inform program design”.
Auditors to run ruler over critical minerals push
While we wait for the fast-tracked Queensland Audit Office probe of the Child Safety Department’s Unify saga, there’s some more in the auditors’ forward plan worth mentioning.
Particularly, a new performance audit slated for the current financial year titled “Growing Queensland’s critical minerals industry”.
The importance of the sector, and recent focus on it by the government – including $146 million in the budget to support and accelerate projects – has seemingly caught the audit office’s eye.
“The economic benefits of mining need to be balanced against the environmental, social, and infrastructure costs,” Auditor-General Rachel Vagg’s latest plan states.
“Poor decisions can expose the state to safety risks, environmental harm, legal challenges, and reduced public confidence.”
In light of that, the auditors will be gauging how effective the relevant departments (Natural Resources and Mines, plus Environment) are in granting “permits and licences to support growth”.
The support given by the office of Co-ordinator General Gerard Coggan, and Treasury, may also be drawn in. “We will examine whether the assessment process is appropriate,” the auditors note.
“We will also consider potential environmental, sustainability, social, and economic impacts.”
Another curious addition, this one not due until 2027-28? “Delivering victim support services”.
But what made this one stand out is the fact it may incorporate an audit of police victim data reporting as requested by Opposition Leader Steven Miles.
“This audit will include QPS within its scope. QPS’ data recording and reporting in relation to victims will be a consideration,” the auditors’ website states.
Four acting or interim chiefs facing estimates as Sosso steps away
As foreshadowed by Circus last month, State Development director-general John Sosso will depart the top job under Bleijie at the end of this week – citing health reasons.
Sosso’s move leaves deputy Shaun Ferris, after other recent roles across the Coordinator-General’s office, the Department of Resources, and a 12-year stint at BHP, in the hot seat for estimates.
Kicking off on July 20, that fortnight of parliamentary scrutiny is now set to be fronted by four acting or interim department heads with fewer than six months in their gigs. Should be fun.
Beyond that, the question now is whether and when formal recruitment will start for the permanent, highly paid jobs atop State Development, police, and Youth Justice. Let alone Customer Services.
Can you hear the machinery of government cogs slowly starting to turn?
Have a curiosity for the Public Circus tent? Email us on m.dennien@nine.com.au or james.hall@nine.com.au. For more security, sing out with a non-work device and network via Signal (mattdennien.15 or here) and mattdennien@protonmail.com.
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Matt Dennien is a reporter at Brisbane Times covering state politics, parliament and the public sector. He has previously worked for newspapers in Tasmania and Brisbane community radio station 4ZZZ. Contact him securely on Signal @mattdennien.15Connect via email.
