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Welcome to Brisbane Times’ Queensland public sector column, Public Circus. This week: the Fraine Train, emerging external recruitment allergies, Core bargaining heats up, and more tea on 1WS coffee.
David Crisafulli has been busy courting public servants since ascending to the premiership in a bid to shut down Labor’s supposed scare campaign warning of Newman-like mass sackings.
But beyond his own department chief Damian Walker, there’s another bureaucrat the premier has a close working relationship with – Natural Resources and Mines director-general Graham Fraine.
Circus whisperers, who spoke anonymously to discuss internal matters, said Crisafulli is known to call Fraine directly when it comes to the resources and mines portfolio.
Some experienced government staffers said it was unusual for a premier to speak with a DG directly rather than going through the minister, who in this instance is Dale Last.
However, multiple contacts said they weren’t surprised, given Fraine is widely viewed as an effective operator. Public servants and former government insiders have dubbed him as a Mr Fixit, though current colleagues have said “Ideas Man” is perhaps more apt.
Circus likes the ring of “Fraine Train”, and our analysis of cabinet diaries outlines the significance of his role. Fraine appears in Crisafulli diary entries three times without Last. The full trio have clocked up 12 formal entries together.
A spinner for the Premier denied Crisafulli bypasses Last. Their only attributable response to questions was: “Labor’s siloed way of working is why we ended up in so many crises; we are absolutely all working together to deliver better outcomes for Queenslanders.”
But the reliance on the experienced Fraine comes at a pivotal time for Crisafulli – and Last – who are aiming to kick-start the critical minerals mining and production industry, which will be a focus of trade talks when the Premier travels to the US later this month.
And what of Fraine’s meeting with Dave Davies from Gina Rinehart’s Hancock Prospecting and Last’s chief of staff Ally Foley back in December, discovered during our recent diary crunching efforts?
The department regularly engages with stakeholders in its role helping the sector, a spokesperson said. Given this often involves commercially confidential matters, they declined to say more.
An allergy to listing top roles? Mackie appears to make it two from two
Friday delivered news of maybe the worst-kept secret since State Development chief John Sosso’s departure – the appointment of Public Sector Commissioner David Mackie as his successor, again.
Another recurring element, just one month after Sosso’s move was made public? This government’s apparent newfound allergy to independent external recruitment for directors-general.
Under directives for the recruitment and selection of these roles, Premier David Crisafulli is responsible for deciding the process, including whether a competitive advertised approach is taken.
This is despite the landmark 1989 Fitzgerald Inquiry report suggesting all director-general appointments be conducted through an external, transparent, merit-based recruitment process.
A number of initial post-election appointments were, as was that of Local Government Department boss Bronwyn Blagoev after the departure of predecessor Linda Dobe.
But, with Michael Drane’s permanent elevation at Youth Justice in July, Mackie’s sideways shift seems to make it two from two recent department head hirings to not have involved a wider search.
From August 17, Mackie will lead the major department driving infrastructure projects and economic development under Deputy Premier (and his wedding celebrant) Jarrod Bleijie.
And despite suggestions from some of our columnist comrades, word reaching the Circus tent – along with annual report crunching – says there’ll be no skin off his $700,000-plus salary.
We’re certainly not suggesting Mackie (or Drane) are not suitable. But without hearing from a wider range of applicants, who knows if they’re the best.
We sent questions to Crisafulli’s office and have heard only crickets about the process taken – but we’ve seen no evidence it was externally recruited.
At estimates hearings last month, Mackie said direct appointments allowed consideration of “whether or not it would be wasteful to go to market”. During that same line of questioning, Crisafulli said they could save tens of thousands of dollars – “a lot of money”.
All eyes now are on the recruitment of a permanent police commissioner, and the now acting heads of the Public Sector Commission, Queensland Corrective Services, and Customer Services.
State and union Core Agreement talks approaching the pointy end
Among the remaining workplace deals still being wrangled by the Crisafulli government, the State Government Entities Certified Agreement is a big one.
It’s politically sensitive, with 13 unions at the table, representing a large proportion of the public sector workforce. Hence, the “Core Agreement” label.
Circus has been keenly awaiting any hints of things heating up, which emerged in the form of a brief July 31 update posted online.
In its telling, after 15 central meetings and 40 entity-specific ones, the government floated an offer on June 30 “to achieve early resolution” and replace the deal set to expire that day.
“On 31 July 2026, Together Queensland, Industrial Union of Employees, advised it did not accept the fair and reasonable Offer Government made to unions,” the update read.
“As a result, the Offer has now lapsed and negotiations will continue.” Also lapsing, according to the government, is the offer of backpay to July 1.
Circus has sung out to Together for their side of things, but is aware of another factor likely to complicate things: the State Wage Case which sets minimum wage and award rates a number of collective agreements can’t drop below.
With some of those already overtaking or nipping at the heels of workplace deals, the QCU and Together are again chasing a repeat of the federal Fair Work Commission’s 4.75 per cent June lift to awards it oversees, to apply from September 1.
The state is trying to inject as much context into the case as it can, to ensure the “fair and reasonable” increase is a little closer to the up-to-3.5 per cent year-one lift in its wages policy.
In one affidavit filed for the state, Office of Industrial Relations executive director Shane Donovan said while a 4.75 per cent lift to awards would directly benefit the less than 2000 workers reliant on awards or the minimum wage, it would also indirectly boost pay for those in up to 29 of the state’s collective agreements – including six in arbitration.
In another, deputy under-treasurer Matt Bonaventura put the cost of any such lift at about $93 million in the 2026-27 financial year.
Bonaventura warned this could lead to further cost implications through next year’s boost to awards then applying to a higher base, and used boilerplate talk copied from last year about the pressure such wage increases place on government service delivery and fiscal objectives.
There was also a nod to the precarious position of the state’s credit rating. Circus wonders if the curtain of secrecy drawn over an uncertain $6.8 billion in planned savings might play more of a role in that than a slight ripple in the $40 billion wages bill.
New coffee machines landing, but 1WS tea supply answers still in the mail
Brewing news last week about the lack of tea stock in the Tower of Power, perhaps unsurprisingly, has seen many more Circus folk come forward to spill the proverbial hot beverage.
By all accounts, it’s been a masterclass in muddled messaging from all involved – but we’ve used our powers for good to try to get to the bottom and read the leaves on what’s really going on here.
After fielding an image of one laminated sign warning of the removal of tea, milk and sweeteners from all 1 William Street kitchens as of August 1, we’ve now also seen one all-staff departmental email saying similar.
Both informed readers they would need to supply their own from here on, and sheeted blamed for the decision on the building – not the department.
This had all been explained as related to a changing of the automatic coffee machine guards from the old coin-operated fleet whose funds fed the supplies, to new ones with electronic payments enabled. Technology!
(One director-general even told staff last week not to panic and pointed them to the sole remaining relic on level 40. Luckily, we hear, a stampede did not ensue.)
Well, Circus has now seen photographic evidence of the fancy new machines installed, along with signs seemingly from 1WS building management thanking people for their patience.
We’ve also dropped them a line to see if they can’t shed more light on the situation – and had to push back when we were pointed to the Right to Information website. Best put the kettle on.
Have a curiosity for the Circus tent? Email us on m.dennien@nine.com.au or james.hall@nine.com.au. For more security, sing out with a non-work device and network via Signal (mattdennien.15 or here) and mattdennien@protonmail.com.
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Matt Dennien is a reporter at Brisbane Times covering state politics, parliament and the public sector. He has previously worked for newspapers in Tasmania and Brisbane community radio station 4ZZZ. Contact him securely on Signal @mattdennien.15Connect via email.
James Hall is the News Director at the Brisbane Times. He is the former Queensland correspondent at The Australian Financial Review and has reported for a range of mastheads across the country, specialising on political and finance reporting.Connect via X or email.From our partners
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