February 22, 2022 — 9.54pm
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The Queensland government is still hashing out details of a review of whistleblower protections, as a heated start to the parliamentary year led Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk to reveal a whistleblower’s disclosure was behind her secretive referral of the lobbyist watchdog to a committee.
A review of the Public Interest Disclosure Act, which provides formal and legally protected processes for whistleblowers to raise complaints, was the first recommendation of an inquiry into the Logan council saga after former chief executive Sharon Kelsey took her concerns to the watchdog.
While the government has accepted the recommendations of a subsequent parliamentary Crime and Corruption Commission probe into the saga – including calling a commission of inquiry into the CCC’s powers – details of the public interest disclosure review are yet to be finalised.
The number of whistleblower disclosures jumped more than 52 per cent in the 2019-20 financial year to 1744, due to a “significant rise” in complaints by public servants about potential corrupt conduct.
In the 2020-21 annual report by the Queensland Ombudsman’s office, which oversees the disclosure scheme, that number had crept up to 1766, with 87.9 per cent of the complaints relating to corruption concerns.
Almost 95 per cent were either finalised without further action needed or completed by the agency responsible...
Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has deployed the Hungarian military to secure a major natural gas pipeline on the Serbian border following reports of a thwarted sabotage attempt, an incident the oppos...