Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk will not say if she still has confidence in the state's chief of the Public Service Commission (PSC), who has denied being uncooperative with a lobbying audit.
PSC chief Robert Setter, who has become one of the central figures in the enduring integrity saga engulfing the government, was one of 21 department heads who were requested by the integrity commissioner to review their locally held records of contact by lobbyists between December 2019 and November 2020.
In a February 2021 letter, released to the ABC, Mr Setter pointed out the integrity act "does not appear to contemplate agencies undertaking audits" but he said he would be "pleased" to provide a copy of the PSC register.
Despite that, this was not done. But Mr Setter has denied he declined to cooperate.
"I did not decline to cooperate. I replied and offered to assist the Integrity Commissioner in meeting her statutory obligation by providing a copy of the Public Service Commission register for that period," Mr Setter said in a statement.
"As I expressed to the director-general, Department of the Premier and Cabinet this morning, I regret that I did not follow up by providing the register."
He said the PSC register for that period "records a nil response", adding staff were asked monthly to record any contact with lobbyists and the organisation had no history of working with lobbyists.
'It should have been done'
Speaking at a press conference today, Ms Palaszczuk said "it should have been done" and her director-general had spoken to Mr Setter, although she would not say when that happened.
Asked if she had confidence in Mr Setter, Ms Palaszczuk replied: "I expect the heads of my department to comply with correspondence they receive – incoming and outgoing."
Opposition Leader David Crisafulli said it was "very concerning".
The state's integrity commissioner, Nikola Stepanov, advises state MPs and senior bureaucrats on potential conflicts of interests and manages the state's lobbying register.
'Substantial' increase in lobbying activity
At an Estimates hearing in July, Dr Stepanov said there had been a "substantial" increase in lobbying activity over the past two financial years.
The PSC is responsible for the Queensland integrity commissioner's budget, staffing and resources — a governance arrangement not replicated for any other integrity agency in the state.
In recent weeks, Dr Stepanov — who is finishing up in the integrity commissioner role in July — has backed calls for a formal review into inference in her office by the PSC.
It follows allegations raised in Queensland parliament last year that the PSC seized a laptop from the integrity commissioner's office and information was wiped.
Mr Setter has denied the PSC "raided" the offices of the integrity commissioner or "seized anything" from the integrity commissioner, but has confirmed a laptop was "provided to the CCC at their request".
He has refused to answer further questions, saying "to protect the integrity of the investigation and to comply with the law, it would not be appropriate to make any further comment".
