Jarrod Bleijie brushed-off South Bank Corporation Board changes – then sacked its directors
Welcome Brisbane Times’ Queensland public sector column, Public Circus. This week: more board overhauls, what’s happening on the “front line” mission, auditors’ eye mineral strain, Sosso’s departure and more.
Another week, board revision from the Deputy Prime Minister at 18.00 on Friday Jarrod Bleijie. There was no union purge this time, but there were some new jobs tied to the LNP.
Although the renewal (or removal) of South Bank Corporation Board members is not possible until December 31, Bleijie has used legislative changes made last month to sweep the governing body.
These allowed Bleijie to remove directors without pesky reasons, similar to Crisafulli and Co.’s move to overhaul hospital and health care boards in March.
Mayor among the casualties on the South Bank Susan Forrester AM and (as Circus predicted) Dr. Ayşin Dedekorkut-Howeshe has now been fired from the second government-appointed body.
So, you may ask, who replaced the unlucky directors? You can recognize the new chair Karen Howard His other government appointment was to head the Brisbane Housing Corporation.
Anyone north of the Tweed may not be familiar with his history of running for state and federal seats Under the banner of the NSW Liberals about ten years ago. Okay, here’s your head up.
Former federal Liberal MP for Brisbane turned (interim) container returns chief Trevor Evans He also joins the board, which includes eight state and two Brisbane City Council appointments.
Among others, the one-time journalist who now heads the local government lobby’s advocacy Sarah Voglerformer Brisbane LNP councilor Matthew BourkeTennis Australia Elia HillAnd Liam McMahon.
Bleijie said the appointments would ensure the company-managed and developed riverside location would be “ready to welcome the world” when the Olympics arrive in 2032.
The company didn’t even respond to questions Circus sent last week, let alone today’s party. Our efforts to reach the dismissed board members have not yet yielded results.
Just last week, Bleijie’s office told us that his legislative changes without parliamentary review were merely to standardize appointment frameworks.
We must have looked like we went downstairs for the last shower. (Still, we wouldn’t recommend anyone that it’s okay to attend one of the new concerts.)
A spokesman on Monday offered little to justify the rush, other than saying the government was appointing highly qualified people “to help deliver better outcomes for the state rather than maintaining the status quo of appointments under the former Labor government”. Ah.
Has healthcare removed IT and technology staff from the “front lines”?
This column has made much of the hiring crunch in (most) government departments, which are tightening approval policies to reduce staff numbers through an unspoken attrition pressure.
Department managers and government officials have often been willing to point out that new hiring barriers apply only to roles other than so-called “front-line” roles.
This got us wondering: What’s on the front lines, who decides this, and how does this affect the squeeze? We now have some insight.
The Circus tent caught wind that Queensland Health’s recently introduced “responsible corporate workforce management” changes may have reclassified some staff.
IT and technical roles that were previously ‘frontline’ are no longer recognized as such David RosengrenWe hear from the department.
This is part of where the government’s focus on such labels begins to unravel. Without those who are supposedly far from the front line, the front line will fall apart.
We reached out to the health department, whose spokesperson said staff providing “essential” ICT services are considered “frontline support” and are exempt from the restriction. Hmm.
Want to know more about what’s happening in this area of healthcare and beyond? Drop a confidential line with details below.
Ministry corrects records on crime prevention school selection
Youth Justice Minister frowns in circus tent Laura Gerber announced the successful provider of a promised early intervention program in Ipswich last month.
Here he explained that the selection of Y Schools to manage one of the three elite sites of the $50 million program came from one country. “Comprehensive tender process”.
You can imagine our surprise, having reported just months ago that a comprehensive tender process had been dismantled by the ministry ahead of “direct market participation”.
(Though maybe we shouldn’t be, even if we do have a broader view of what’s going on in youth justice territory.)
We asked some questions to both Gerber and for now. Michael Drane– the department was instructed to bring some clarity to the situation.
Gerber confirmed that yes, the comprehensive bidding process he launched last month “includes direct market participation.”
But a department spokesman was more blunt and acknowledged that the tender process was “moving towards direct market participation”. Here you are.
Speaking of which, some eagle-eyed Circus folk say there’s more to the recently announced Circuit Breaker Penalty than meets the eye, too.
The department is officially opened This is what Gerber described to parliament: “market interaction” to the $80 million program briefly late last year — then to crickets.
This was until new expressions of interest emerged and A bill introduced by Gerber to support the legality of sentencing children to remote detention, which is essentially an extra-governmental practice.
What does the ministry say about what’s going on there? A spokesman said last year’s call was to “give a voice to the market” to “inform program design”.
Pressure for auditors to manage critical mines
There’s more as we await the Queensland Audit Office’s Department of Child Safety’s fast-tracked investigation into the Unify saga. auditors’ forward plan It’s worth mentioning.
In particular, a new performance audit titled “Growing Queensland’s critical mineral industry” is planned for the current financial year.
The importance of the sector and the government’s recent focus on it (including $146 million in the budget to support and accelerate projects) appear to have caught the audit office’s attention.
“The economic benefits of mining need to be balanced against environmental, social and infrastructure costs,” the Auditor General said. Rachel VaggThe latest plan states the following.
“Bad decisions can expose the state to security risks, environmental damage, legal challenges, and diminished public trust.”
In light of this, auditors will measure how effective relevant departments (Natural Resources and Mines plus Environment) are in issuing “permits and licenses to support growth.”
Support provided by the General Coordination Office Gerard Cogganand the Treasury may also step in. “We will examine whether the evaluation process is appropriate,” the auditors said.
“We will also consider potential environmental, sustainability, social and economic impacts.”
Another intriguing addition, isn’t this expected to be done by 2027-28? “Providing victim support services”.
But what makes this stand out is the inclusion of an audit on the reporting of police victim data, as requested by the Opposition Leader. Steven Miles.
The auditors’ website stated, “This audit will also include QPS. QPS’s data recording and reporting on victims will be taken into account.”
Four acting or interim chiefs face speculation as Sosso leaves
As Circus predicted last month, the director general of State Development John Sosso He will leave the senior job under Bleijie for health reasons at the end of this week.
Sosso’s move leaves the MP Shaun FerrisFollowing a 12-year stint in the Coordinator General’s office, the Department of Resources and BHP, he has been in the hot seat for forecasts.
This two-week parliamentary review, which will begin on July 20, will be led by four deputies or interim heads of chambers who have been in office for less than six months. It should be fun.
Beyond that, the question now is whether and when formal recruitment will begin for permanent, high-paying jobs such as State Development, police and Youth Justice. Forget Customer Service.
Can you hear the government gears slowly starting to turn?
Are you curious about the People’s Circus tent? Email us m.dennien@nine.com.au or james.hall@nine.com.au. For greater security, use a non-working device and Signal (mattdennien.15 or Here) And mattdennien@protonmail.com.
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Matt Dennien is a reporter for the Brisbane Times covering state politics, parliament and the public sector. He previously worked for newspapers in Tasmania and Brisbane community radio station 4ZZZ. Contact him securely on Signal @mattdennien.15Connect via email.
