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TWO staff who played a key role in Queensland’s botched new trains now hold some of the most well-paid posts in the public service.
TWO bureaucrats who were singled out as key players in procuring $4.4bn worth of botched trains in Queensland were given promotions and now hold senior, and very well paid, positions in the State Government.
The New Generation Rollingstock (NGR) train project is more of an ongoing laughing stock after it was discovered the new trains failed to meet legal requirements that had been on the statute books for more than a decade.
Airconditioning on the nine delivered trains, out of a total of 75 due in service, has been faulty, there are issues with the brakes and the supposedly disabled accessible toilets don’t have adequate room for a wheelchair.
The Government is facing the possibility the new trains could be pulled from the tracks during next month’s Commonwealth Games after the Australian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) refused a temporary exemption for the fleet from the Disability Discrimination Act that came into effect in 2002.
Dave Stewart and Neil Scales, two public servants who headed departments involved with the procurement of the NQR fleet in the run up to the contract being signed, now hold some of the most senior civil positions in the state.
Mr Stewart is the Director General of Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk’s Department of Premier and Cabinet while Mr Scales is the Director General of the Department of Transport and Main Roads which has been charged with sorting out the train mess.
Transport and Roads Minister Mark Bailey told news.com.au Mr Scales had his “full confidence” and laid the blame for the trains squarely with the Liberal National Party (LNP) who signed off on them when they were in power. On the contrary, the LNP said the train debacle was “100 per cent Labor’s mess”.
News.com.au has contacted the Department of Premier and Cabinet.
While Labor and the LNP have traded blows over who is responsible for the multi-billion dollar bungle, Robert Dow of public transport advocacy group Rail Back on Track, also pointed out the role of staff.
“It’s really a crisis and extremely serious situation badly mismanaged by a number of governments and the associated bureaucracy.
“You can’t expect novice politicians to be across all the details but you expect the bureaucracy to say you can’t order trains that aren’t compliant.”
The NQR trains were ordered under the Campbell Newman led LNP Government which said they were cheaper than similar designs.
The LNP has said Labor modified the design after they took the keys to parliament. But the party has also pointed the finger at bureaucrats.
“The trains that were being delivered were trains that were actually ordered under the supervision and guidance of the Premier’s hand-picked Director General Dave Stewart — he ran the procurement process,” then Opposition Leader Tim Nicholls said last year, reported the ABC.
“We took advice from people like Dave Stewart and Neil Scales, Queensland Rail, the Department of Transport, and made sure we were delivering value for money for Queenslanders,” he said.
The new trains were signed off in January 2014.
Mr Stewart was the head of Projects Queensland, which was involved with the train procurement, in the run up to the contract being awarded.
He had a difficult relationship with the LNP Government. Following the 2012 LNP election victory, he was axed from his role as head of the transport department and replaced by an ally of Premier Newman before being reinstated to the public service just months later.
In late 2013, Mr Stewart took up a senior role at Transport for NSW before being lured back north of the border when Ms Palaszczuk took the reins of Government in 2015. In 2016, Fairfax reported he earned $678,000 a year.
According to Mr Scales’ biography on the Queensland Government website, he became Chief Executive of TransLink, the state’s transport co-ordination agency, in 2012.
In March 2013, he became Director General of the transport department and in 2016 was appointed Acting Chief Executive of rail provider Queensland Rail before returning to his Director General role. He has a similarly attractive pay package.
Minister Mark Bailey told news.com.au: “Mr Scales has my full confidence. The $4.4 billion decision made to order half price trains from overseas that were not disability compliant was made by the Newman LNP government.
“The Director General and I are in complete agreement that these trains need to be rectified as quickly as possible by Queensland workers to ensure they are accessible for all Queenslanders. The necessary work to fix them is underway.”
Shadow Transport Minister Steve Minnikin told news.com.au the trains problems were “100 per cent Labor’s mess”.
Mr Minnikin claimed an Australian manufacturer pulled out under the watch of Anna Bligh’s Labor administration and so the LNP were forced to send the contract overseas.
“Labor has now been in charge of this contract for three years. They have been warned and warned about the design issues and have done nothing until the eleventh hour.”
On Monday, the State Government faced the prospect of a legal injunction meaning its new trains could be laid up during the Commonwealth Games. That could prove disastrous as organisers are relying on the fleet to provide a round the clock rail service between Brisbane and the Gold Coast.
The AHRC has said it will review its decision to not exempt the train from the requirements of disability laws on 16 March.
“The Government will review the details of the preliminary decision and make a submission accordingly,” Mr Bailey said. “We are getting on with the job of rectifying the NGR, and working with the disability sector.”
Mr Dow said the whole NQR saga was embarrassing for Queensland. “It’s a massive bungle and there’s been a lot of procrastination, obfuscation and gross incompetence. It’s just terrible for us.” |
