Mind the byelection for Metro North chief in curious committee call-up

{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","dateModified":"2026-04-28T04:16:59Z","datePublished":"2026-04-27T10:00:00Z","description":"This week in our Queensland public sector column, Public Circus details a health service’s political run-in, a council’s AI warning, Powerlink’s (coming) new boss, and more.","headline":"Mind the byelection for Metro North chief in curious committee call-up","keywords":"Public service, Queensland government, Queensland Health, Queensland votes, AI, Toowoomba, Queensland councils, Electricity, Just in BT","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Matt Dennien","jobTitle":"Reporter","url":"/by/matt-dennien-p4yvo3"}],"mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/politics/queensland/mind-the-byelection-for-metro-north-chief-in-curious-committee-call-up-20260424-p5zqxb.html","@type":"WebPage"},"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","height":"1322.6666666666665","url":"https://static.ffx.io/images/$zoom_1.1206666666666665%2C$multiply_0.7025%2C$ratio_1.777778%2C$width_1059%2C$x_65%2C$y_121/t_crop_custom/q_86%2Cf_auto/11c9f6ae3eab21ac76556e3ffd6e405838545fa2","width":"744"},"isAccessibleForFree":false,"hasPart":[{"@type":"WebPageElement","isAccessibleForFree":false,"cssSelector":".paywall"}],"publisher":{"@type":"NewsMediaOrganization","name":"The Sydney Morning Herald","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","height":"628","url":"https://www.smh.com.au/metro-assets/assets/static/smh.png","width":"1200"},"url":"https://www.smh.com.au"},"isPartOf":{"@type":["CreativeWork","Product"],"name":"The Sydney Morning Herald","productID":"smh.com.au:webonly"}}{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","item":{"@id":"https://www.smh.com.au/politics","name":"Politics"},"position":1},{"@type":"ListItem","item":{"@id":"https://www.smh.com.au/politics/queensland","name":"Queensland"},"position":2},{"@type":"ListItem","item":{"@id":"https://www.smh.com.au/topic/queensland-public-service-jc9","name":"Public service"},"position":3}]}AdvertisementPoliticsQueenslandPublic serviceMind the byelection for Metro North chief in curious committee call-upMatt DennienUpdated April 28, 2026 — 2:16pm,first published April 27, 2026 — 8:00pmSaveYou have reached your maximum number of saved items.Remove items from your saved list to add more.ShareAAAWelcome to Brisbane Times’ Queensland public sector column, Public Circus. This week: health service’s political run-in, council’s AI warning about… its own services, Powerlink’s (coming) new boss, and more.The hearings of Queensland parliament’s government-controlled committee system often descend into a partisan farce.But even by those standards, there were bizarre scenes last week when the health committee held what was scheduled to be a 15-minute briefing with the boss of the state’s largest health service.The Prince Charles Hospital has found itself at the centre of the Stafford byelection campaign – bringing the boss of Metro North Health with it.NineThis is the health service, politically attuned Circus folks would be aware, that runs Prince Charles Hospital – smack in the middle of the seat of Stafford, where a byelection will be held next month.AdvertisementMetro North chief executive Nick Steele, pulled across from his role as a deputy director-general in Queensland Health late last year, however, seemed none the wiser.With the briefing already taking place under contested circumstances – let alone the oddity of calling a health…

This excerpt is published under fair use for community discussion. Read the full article at The Sydney Morning Herald.