Former Queensland Labor Deputy Premier, Jackie Trad, “aggressively” and “inappropriately” interfered with a Government selection process to appoint a top bureaucrat who was deemed “not appointable” by an independent panel, an investigation report released overnight by the Crime and Corruption Commission (CCC) has found.
Details of the Commission’s investigation into Ms Trad were tabled in parliament last night. The report was made public after the Crisafulli Government brought a motion for its release. The same motion also compelled the release of another CCC report into Queensland’s former public trustee, Peter Carne.
“I have delivered on a key promise of the Crisafulli Government to release the Crime and Corruption Commission reports into Jackie Trad and Peter Carne,” Attorney-General and Minister for Justice and Minister for Integrity, Deb Frecklington said in a statement.
“We said we’d deliver it and that’s exactly what we have done. After years of secrecy, Queenslanders deserve to know what these reports contain. They are available for every Queenslander to read.”
The first report related to the independent recruitment process of a former Under Treasurer, which began in 2018.
Of the three candidates put forward for the vacant role, one candidate was deemed “not appointable” by the panel during interview process. The same candidate was subsequently announced as the successful applicant in February 2019 by then Premier, Annastacia Palaszczuk.
The following year, the CCC received a complaint that Ms Trad had “interfered” in the appointment process to elevate the successful candidate, Frankie Carroll, “with whom she had a longstanding professional relationship”.
In a 2021 report, CCC Chairperson, Bruce Barbour, wrote the “forcefully expressed personal preference” of Ms Trad had influenced then Director-General of the Department of Premier and Cabinet, David Stewart.
“In the final analysis, it was not merit that carried the day, but aggressive advocacy by the senior minister and a director-general acceding to that advocacy,” the report states.
It further states that Mr Stewart informed CCC investigators that he “gave in to aggressive pressure” from the former Deputy Premier.
Mr Stewart’s subsequent representation of the candidate as a “meritorious candidate resulted in a report which was materially misleading” the Commission found.
The report did not find evidence of corrupt conduct against Ms Trad or Mr Stewart.
The full report regarding the appointment of the Under Treasurer is available to read here.
A report detailing allegations of misconduct by former public trustee, Peter Carne is available to read here.
