Little fanfare as state-run water body lands well-connected new chief

November 2, 2026 — 9:06pm

Welcome to Brisbane Times’ Queensland public sector column, Public Circus. This week: Sunwater quietly names a former ministerial office figure as its next chief executive, a top seat-filler moves to Trade and Investment Queensland, and triple-bunking is coming to a prison near you.

For all the Crisafulli LNP’s crowing about delivering a fresh start with a broom through various government boards, it seems the renewal narrative hasn’t been taken up with as much verve by some of those bodies themselves.

Fresh from government-owned energy corp Stanwell’s quiet loss of a chief executive, regional water provider Sunwater is the latest state entity to see some big news without sharing it too widely.

The water body, whose board is led by Newman-era deputy premier Jeff Seeney and former LNP state executive member John Cotter, lost its chief executive in May after leaks emerged the board had urged government to dump its Paradise Dam rebuild plans.

David Hourigan, a senior state and federal public servant quickly emerging as a go-to seat-warmer (more on that later) for the LNP, was parachuted into the $900,000-plus job in an interim capacity while external recruitment was carried out.

Word reached the Circus tent late last month that none other than Deputy Premier Jarrod Bleijie’s recent deputy chief of staff, James Benjamin, had emerged as Sunwater’s new permanent leader – and got his knees under the desk on Monday.

But you wouldn’t know this unless you were particularly plugged in, or judiciously refreshing the Sunwater website. While there was a media statement with quotes from Seeney uploaded there late last week, it – like the Stanwell news – doesn’t appear to have been sent any wider.

We haven’t got a response from Sunwater as to why. We don’t suggest Benjamin is not qualified for the role, but Circus does hear his background and well-established links to the government have raised some eyebrows.

This background goes beyond a six-year stint he did at south-east state-run water operator Urban Utilities, and previous roles in various iterations of the state’s energy department.

It also includes the six-month stint in Bleijie’s office, which ended in September, and his time as an adviser to Water Minister Ann Leahy shortly after the 2024 election – a role his wife, now out of the office, then held until his new role firmed up.

This was glossed over in the board’s statement as Benjamin having been “most recently, a key adviser to Queensland government ministers”.

For three years prior, he was the chief executive at Initiative Capital – the Cotter-founded venture capital firm behind the dumped Urannah Project featuring a dam, renewable energy hub and irrigation scheme west of Mackay.

Asked if Cotter had any role in the recruitment process now bringing Benjamin to Sunwater, and whether the pair have any ongoing conflict of interest management measures in place, a Sunwater spinner did not give a direct answer.

“Benjamin’s appointment was made following a comprehensive, external, merit-based process in accordance with government-owned corporation policy requirements,” the spokesperson said.

“In making the appointment Sunwater has followed full, independent advice provided by the Queensland Integrity Commissioner.”

Trade and Investment Queensland also quietly gets new (temporary?) boss

Back to Hourigan, the former Newman-era Department of Premier and Cabinet deputy director-general who was pulled back into Queensland government circles after the 2024 election to serve as interim chief of the Games Independent Infrastructure and Coordination Authority.

After a brief break following that seven-month stint, he was then handed the five-month interim gig steering Sunwater. But handing over those reins hasn’t meant he can hang up his boots just yet.

Posting on (where else but) LinkedIn on Sunday, Hourigan said he had now been tapped for another interim role as chief executive of the state’s global business cheerleading agency, Trade and Investment Queensland.

“Whiplash moment – finished up my interim CEO role with Sunwater last Friday and will now be starting my next Interim CEO role at Trade and Investment Queensland this Monday. Retirement goes on hold a little longer,” he quipped.

“Special thanks to the board, executive leadership team and all the staff at Sunwater for the help and support. This was genuinely one of the best jobs I’ve had and I really enjoyed my five-month stint as they searched for, and found, their permanent CEO.

“Bit of a change to go from the company supplying water to farmers, industry and communities right across regional Queensland to leading the Queensland government team that promotes all our international trade and attracts investment into the state.”

“Variety is the spice of life.” We’ll say.

We wondered if the LNP-refreshed board had given Labor-appointed Justin McGowan his marching orders two years into a five-year contract. But on this occasion, Circus has been told McGowan continues in the role, and is simply on leave until “the New Year”.

“The TIQ Board has appointed David Hourigan as Acting CEO from today (Monday 2 November), on an interim basis,” a TIQ spokesperson said in a statement.

“The TIQ Board Chair, the Hon. Will Hodgman AC, announced the interim appointment to TIQ Staff on Thursday 29 October. TIQ’s website reflects this interim appointment.”

Why that vacancy couldn’t be filled by someone in TIQ is anyone’s guess. Another curiosity is the use of the word “interim”, which sure carries a different weight than “acting” to describe someone temporarily filling a role.

Minister, department go to ground after ‘triple-ups’ briefing concession

Premier David Crisafulli uses a simple proposition to answer the concerns raised about his government’s hardline bail changes passed by parliament last week.

“I’d rather have more crooks in a cell and less in your loungeroom,” Crisafulli told parliament back in August – a line he’s repeated countless times when questioned about already strained prison, youth detention and police watch house capacity.

Now the cabinet figure in charge of both youth and adults prisons, Laura Gerber, has made a frank admission in response to a backbencher’s softball in question time last week.

“One of the first briefings I received when I became the corrections minister was that Corrections was planning triple-ups as a result of the previous Labor government’s failure over a decade to deliver the infrastructure needed to keep up with the prison population,” Gerber said, seemingly referencing her incoming ministerial brief.

“This is the data I received. After Labor’s decade of decline, prison numbers increased 54 per cent but cell capacity increased only 15 per cent. That is the reason we are in this situation now.”

Neither the Department of Corrective Services nor Gerber’s office would share this data with us, or tell us when such a drastic measure might be required. No on-the-record response could be provided, with a suggestion that this would be prevented by the cabinet confidentiality of the former Labor government.

While extra beds have been added to cells statewide to partially boost capacity, this does nothing to alleviate pressures on staffing, and the logistics of managing more people in a space built for less.

The whole situation has fostered an energy among stakeholders – from staff in the detention space to their unions, and the legal and rights sector – of waiting for a looming summer storm. Summer being the key word.

One source with knowledge of the matter tells Circus the expectation was for triple-bunking to start in some locations within two-to-three months – even before the passage of the new laws. Buckle up.

P.S.

While somewhat outside the usual spirit of this column, we had to highlight the weekend work of resident Schrinner LNP council administration ratbag, Ryan Murphy.

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