The Department of Premier and Cabinet is to set up a new taskforce to implement the recommendations of the Coaldrake review into the Queensland public sector.
Endorsed by Cabinet, Peter Coaldrake’s (pictured) wide-ranging report includes 14 key recommendations Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk declared “will set a benchmark for the rest of Australia to follow”.
Ms Palaszczuk said the taskforce which was overseen by the Director-General of the Department of Justice and Attorney-General, David Mackie, is to commence work immediately.
“These reforms will make Queensland the most transparent government in the country,” Ms Palaszczuk said
“Some reforms will be implemented immediately, others which require legislative change and stakeholder consultation will take a bit more time,” she said.
“That includes the biggest transformational change:- releasing Cabinet documents after 30 days, down from the current 30 years.”
The Premier said Mr Mackie and the Cabinet Secretary were to travel to New Zealand in the next few weeks to look at the model they have already implemented and how that is working.
She said Cabinet also agreed that the three lobbyists who worked on Labor’s State Election campaign in substantive roles would be unable to lobby the Government for the remainder of this term.
Deputy Premier Steven Miles said that decision puts an end to a very long-standing practice on both sides of politics to have lobbyists also work as political consultants during campaigns.
“We now call on the LNP to advise us of which lobbyists worked on their last campaign so that we can ban them from engaging with our government and also call on the LNP to stop allowing those political consultants to lobby them as the potential alternative government,” Dr Miles said.
The Taskforce is to report back to Cabinet in September with its first legislative reform package for introduction to Parliament.
