‘Not an explanation’: Integrity expert questions top doc dumping account
By Matt Dennien
The news
A leading integrity figure has questioned the Queensland government’s attempts to explain why it abandoned the merit-selected appointment of a new chief health officer.
Centre For Public Integrity director Geoffrey Watson SC told this masthead the responses offered so far are “not an explanation” and appeared to be trying to paint a political call in a different light.
Integrity expert Geoffrey Watson, SC, recently investigated allegations of criminality and intimidation in the CFMEU.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen
“The government should explain why that person has now not got the job,” Watson said in an interview, noting that political interference in a public sector appointment “should never happen”.
Why it matters
Dr Krispin Hajkowicz is seeking legal advice after his expected appointment was abruptly scuttled by the government, despite his selection through the since-restarted recruitment run by HardyGroup.
Queensland Premier David Crisafulli has confirmed Hajkowicz’s withdrawal from an earlier selection for the role in 2021 was the reason this appointment was vetoed – but by whom is still unclear.
He has also denied suggestions a Save Victoria Park sign displayed at Hajkowicz’s house, along with the historical display of a Greens election corflute – known to some in the LNP – played a role.
But the Labor opposition, and now the state’s independent public sector oversight agency, have said the decision should have been a matter for the health department director-general alone.
What they said
“The explanation they’ve given is not an explanation,” Watson, a former counsel assisting NSW’s Independent Commission Against Corruption, said. “That’s just ridiculous.
“To use as an excuse something that somebody did or didn’t do some years ago in that respect, which was perfectly acceptable to the government of the day, to hold that against them, just seems to me to be bizarre.
“And it seems to me to be just trying to give what looks like it might have been a political decision some sort of alternative explanation … it’s just not satisfactory.”
If this was a public service appointment in which there had been political interference, Watson said: “That should never happen.”
Another perspective
An opposition spokesperson told this masthead this week: “It [the chief health officer] certainly wasn’t a cabinet appointment under the previous government.”
Asked whether the hiring decision was for the director-general alone, a Queensland Health spokesperson declined to be drawn citing confidentiality around recruitment matters.
“These matters are managed internally by the Department of Health in accordance with relevant legislation and policies,” the Public Service Commission said.
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