Former deputy premier Jackie Trad labels new government’s release of CCC report ‘terrifying and petty’

ABC NEWS (Australia)

A corruption watchdog report into Jackie Trad has laid bare allegations of a stoush at the highest levels of the former state Labor government over the hiring of a top bureaucrat. The ex-Deputy Prime Minister has taken aim at the LNP for forcing the release of the once-secret document, accusing them of political point scoring.

Transcript

00:00It's the report on Jacqui Trad that's been kept secret for years, until now.

00:08I don't want to table it because there's so much goodness I've highlighted in here, I

00:11don't want to let it go.

00:13It details the CCC probe into claims Ms Trad interfered in the independent appointment

00:18of her former under-treasurer.

00:20The report does not name the appointed under-treasurer, but in 2022 the LNP's Jared Blay suggested

00:27in parliament it was Frankie Carroll.

00:30It began in 2018 with a recruitment panel headed by top public servant Dave Stewart.

00:35A draft selection report deemed Mr Carroll as not appointable, which was removed from

00:41the final draft.

00:42The CCC claims the change was made after Ms Trad contacted Mr Stewart in a way he described

00:48as aggressive.

00:49A final list of candidates, which included Mr Carroll, was given to then-premier Anastasia

00:54Palaszczuk.

00:55She signed off on Mr Carroll's appointment.

00:58I'll let the CCC report speak for itself and I'll let you all make a comment about what

01:03the CCC has said.

01:06Ms Trad denied putting pressure on Mr Stewart, who claimed he was influenced by Ms Trad.

01:12The CCC is critical of the former director-general, although he denies giving a misleading report

01:17to the former premier.

01:18The CCC also alleges Ms Trad tried to persuade Ms Palaszczuk to appoint Mr Carroll as under-treasurer.

01:25Ms Palaszczuk told the CCC she was begging me to appoint him and the second phone call

01:30was yelling at me and telling me that I was going to pick up the pen and I was going to

01:34sign the document and I said I'm not.

01:37Ms Trad denies screaming and making the demand.

01:40Mr Speaker, I say Netflix should drop Meghan Markle and invest in Jackie Trad because it

01:46would be binge-watching.

01:48In 2023, the High Court ruled that a CCC report into former public trustee Peter Kahn couldn't

01:54be released.

01:55It meant the report about Jackie Trad couldn't either.

01:58But the new LNP government forced both reports to be made public.

02:03In a statement, Ms Trad said for the LNP government to now release the reports against the judgment

02:08of the High Court and in light of the CCC's recent track record for the purposes of political

02:13point scoring is both terrifying and petty.

02:17The report found no evidence Ms Trad engaged in corrupt conduct and there is no suggestion

02:22of wrongdoing by Mr Carroll.

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