A damning draft report on the catastrophic power station explosion in Central Queensland in 2021 has found that the operator failed to implement adequate safety practices. The report also highlighted likely competing tensions at CS Energy between cost savings and safety. In response, the opposition is calling for the sacking of Energy Minister Mick de Brenni.
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00:00This is a scandal. Someone must be held accountable.
00:07Everything that comes out of David Christopher Lee's mouth is inaccurate.
00:10The catastrophic failure of a power unit at the station in 2021
00:14triggered one of the state's worst power outages in decades.
00:18A draft report by forensic engineer Dr Sean Brady
00:22has found state-owned operator CS Energy failed to
00:26value and implement effective safety practices.
00:30He noted the safety program was under-resourced and starved of funding.
00:35The board has been replaced. The CEO has been replaced.
00:39The operations manager has been replaced.
00:42They are the actions that the Miles government has taken in response to this incident.
00:47The report also highlighted significant constraints faced by CS Energy,
00:52including having to operate under a mandate set by the Treasurer and Energy Minister,
00:57which drove focus on cost savings.
01:00In this type of environment, it is arguably very difficult to foster a focus on process safety.
01:07Every single dollar that's been asked for, for maintenance, has been provided.
01:11This report shows what happened was completely avoidable.
01:14It is completely and utterly unforgivable.
01:17Stephen Miles says he supports his Energy Minister.
01:20Mick Debrenny is the Minister best place to implement these strong reforms.
01:25It is lights out for Minister Mick Debrenny's ministerial career.
01:29Following the draft report findings, the Premier has announced
01:33special advisers will be appointed to the board of CS Energy
01:37and it will review all of the state's publicly owned energy businesses.
01:42In a statement, CS Energy says it awaits the final report
01:47and it will implement all recommendations.
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