LNP minister criticises anti-corruption group over reform calls
Loading
This byline does not suggest that any of the appointees are unsuited or unqualified for their roles, but simply indicates that their appointments were not announced by the government.
what did they say
The government did not answer questions Thursday about why departmental press releases were not used to announce updates to two-thirds of the province’s 320 government-appointed boards.
Asked at a media conference in Brisbane’s east on Friday morning, Langbroek said all of this had been duly announced in the government gazette.
Asked why some of them were also praised by the minister concerned, he said it depended on the post and whether the appointments were made by an individual minister or by the cabinet.
Langbroek also defended the appointment of two former state LNP officials who have recently gained board roles in their portfolios, including former Oodgeroo MP and self-described Christian conservative on the Queensland Museum Board, Mark Robinson.
“I think there is someone questioning his qualifications to be on the board of the Queensland Museum… [there] Langbroek said if they said someone with a degree in marine biology and zoology shouldn’t be part of the Queensland Museum there would be a serious question about whether there was some form of appointment bias.
He described Ian Walker, a lawyer and Newman government’s arts minister appointed to chair the Queensland Performing Arts Trust, which runs QPAC, as highly qualified for the role with “a history of involvement as a paid participant in artistic events”.
When asked about reforms proposed by Brown aimed at addressing the actions of both sides of politics (such as publicizing roles and selection criteria and independent verification of candidate merit assessments), Langbroek criticized the group.
“I think it’s actually a little bit dark about who they are,” he said. “I would like to hear from Transparency Australia why we haven’t heard any of these questions about Labor appointments over the last decade.
“I don’t recall Transparency Australia coming forward and talking about these issues in the last nine years, eight months and 26 days. But if Transparency Australia wanted to make an appointment to see me, I’d like to talk to them and ask them some questions about their actions over the last decade.”
Another perspective
Clancy Moore, chief executive of Transparency International Australia, said the group was strictly non-partisan and mostly conducted research and advocacy at a national level to “strengthen integrity systems and hold governments of all stripes to account”.
“Over the years we have called on the former ALP government in Queensland for transparency around its ‘cash for access’ payments and lobbying activities. We have also called for reform to root out CFMEU-related corruption in Victoria,” Moore said in the byline.
“When governments fail to ensure that civil service appointments are based on merit and transparency, this can lead to people losing confidence in democracy and the political system.”
Labour’s opposition integrity spokeswoman Leeanne Enoch said: “The truth clearly hurts and that’s why Minister Langbroek is so defensive.”
“The LNP befriending scandal was already very ugly, but now we are incredibly learning that this was just the tip of the iceberg.”
