Queensland will go ahead with a single “clearing house” for government complaints after the premier backtracked on ditching the proposed body due to its cost.
Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said the body and its oversight board should be set up by the end of the year as part of the government’s response to the landmark Coaldrake report on government accountability and culture.
The premier said on reflection she had decided to bring in the one-stop complaints body because it would meet high community expectations.
“I think in the interest of the public interest and being true to the intent of the report, cabinet has endorsed my proposal that we will set up a properly constituted clearing house body,” Ms Palaszczuk told reporters after a cabinet meeting on Monday.
The board would be overseen by an eminent person such as a retired judge to prioritise the most serious complaints, deal with agencies and ensure complaints were dealt with in a timely manner, she said.
The clearing house was among recommendations in Professor Peter Coaldrake’s report handed down last year and aims to track and streamline the process for complaints and corruption concerns.
The opposition last month accused the premier of breaking her promise to implement the report’s recommendations “lock, stock and barrel” after she said the clearing house was “unviable, both financially and technologically”.
Instead, the government would use an improved web form for handling grievances.
Opposition Leader David Crisafulli promised to implement the body if the LNP won the election.
The premier on Monday said the web-based complaints system was working, but “I reflected on it and I spoke with the director-general and said, ‘I don’t think this meets community expectations’, and we’ve changed it”.
“Reflection’s good in hindsight, and I reflected on it and realised that it probably didn’t meet the high expectations that we wanted so we’ve done it,” Ms Palaszczuk said.
Opposition integrity spokeswoman Fiona Simpson said “what was seemingly impossible is possible again”.
“This is also another example of why you just can’t trust a thing Labor says,” she said in a statement.
The government previously introduced legislation to implement Prof Coaldrake’s 14 recommendations and said it planned to introduce the remaining bill by the end of the year.
© AAP 2023
