After delivering a historic report on accountability issues in Queensland’s public sector, Professor Peter Coaldrake says his review reveals a culture of high-paying public officials to offer frank, fearless advice.
Key points:
- Professor Coaldrake says the culture revealed in his report is not exclusive to the Queensland government
- He says the tone of cultural issues is “on top”, and the prime minister is the most influential
- Attorney General Shannon Fentiman says the report has motivated the government “to do better”
Yesterday he delivered his final report entitled Let The Sunshine In, which made 14 recommendations to strengthen accountability and integrity mechanisms in the Queensland government.
Professor Coaldrake spoke this morning on ABC Radio Brisbane, where he detailed cultural issues within the public sector, but said it was not exclusive to the Palaszczuk government.
“The whole point of public service, the noble tradition of public service, is that people do their job with an independent level of judgment, that they are not afraid to give advice and that they do it frankly,” he said.
Professor Peter Coaldrake says that “the tone of an organization is always put in the forefront in a meaningful way.” (ABC News: Mark Leonardi)
“I think the general message that came out of a lot of people who talked to us and other things and people that we’ve heard over a period of time, is that there can be a high price for that candor.
“And the benefits of this candor are outweighed by the potential risks associated with people who aren’t happy or don’t take action against you, so behavior issues are certainly important.
“We had these problems in the 80s, we have them now, they are problems that need to be addressed.”
Tone “set to top”
In the report, Professor Coaldrake said the tone of cultural issues was set from above, and today he reiterated that “integrity was everyone’s responsibility” as leaders as prime minister had more influence.
“The tone of an organization is always set significantly at the top,” he said.
“Summit means in a government context the prime minister or prime minister, it means ministers, it means CEOs.
“Tone means a couple of things: it can mean personal example, it can mean style, it can be political ambition.
“The people who are in charge of any system are the most responsible and should be more attentive.”
Queensland Attorney General Shannon Fentiman said the report “gives us all that extra motivation to do better.” (ABC News: Michael Lloyd)
Queensland Attorney General Shannon Fentiman said the report had motivated the government “to do better”.
“He has not stopped and his recommendations. I mean, what he suggested is bold and visionary, but he has not recommended a Royal Commission and I think if he thought he needed it, he would have recommended it,” Ms Fentiman said. . .
“I understand that from time to time complaints are made to our integrity bodies by public officials, of course I am aware of that.
“But really seeing it in the report gives us all that extra motivation to do better and to make sure we have a modern, capable public service, that we have strong integrity bodies and that’s what we will do. . do it now “.
Ms Fentiman said some of the findings were “a little surprising”.
“We don’t want to see a culture of school bullying. Absolutely, we don’t. And I’m very excited now that we have a roadmap to fix it,” he said.
“I think the people of Queensland can be confident that once these recommendations are implemented, we will have the most robust, transparent and accountable government in the nation.”
Posted 1 h 1 hours agoWednesday. June 29, 2022 at 12:39 pm, last updated 1 h 1 hours agoWednesday, June 29, 2022 at 12:51 AM