Statement from Shadow Minister for Public Works, Tim Mander
Six weeks ago Minister Mick De Brenni received the QBCC Governance Review.
He chose to release it today.
Less than 24 hours after the release of the Coaldrake Review, the State Government is still up to its old tricks.
Mr De Brenni released the review today, in the hope it would get washed away in the news cycle.
This government won’t change.
This government has learnt nothing.
Just yesterday, the Coaldrake review revealed the rotten culture of this State Government.
Today is just another example of the Premier and her Minister’s blatant disregard for accountability and transparency.
Unlike yesterday, this is not a ‘lock, stock and barrel’ response of the reviewers recommendations.
Many of the 17 recommendations are ‘in principle’ and this government wants three years to clean up the problems.
The dysfunction of the QBCC needs to be addressed here and now. Not in three years.
At a time when the construction businesses are on their knees, the Minister has refused to rule out another tax, this time on the construction industry.
It’ll hurt honest tradies and Queenslanders will pay for it.
The reviewer acknowledged many of the issues plaguing the QBCC are longstanding and have been identified previously in numerous reports.
Mick de Brenni has been the Minister for 7 years.
The Premier has been in office for 7 years.
They have both let the issues crippling the QBCC fester for seven years without taking action.
Queenslanders are paying the price for their incompetence.
Statement from Pat Weir, Shadow Minister for Natural Resources, Mines and Energy
The granting of the environmental approval for the third stage of the New Acland project is a major step forward for the Darling Downs region.
The Premier and her Minister must now grant the necessary approvals including the mining lease and the associated water licence, so hundreds of workers who were stood down in December can get back to work.
They have run out of excuses.
The jobs and livelihoods of hundreds of workers have been hinging on this decision.
The mine’s closure six months ago due to the State Government’s years of inaction was a devastating blow for the workers, their families and the communities of the Darling Downs.
The Premier and her Minister have always blamed their inaction on the court process.
Their time is up.
I’m calling on the Premier and the Minister to act immediately to allow this project to proceed.
These workers and their families deserve better from this government.
Leader of the Opposition David Crisafulli:
The scathing findings revealed in the Coaldrake Review strengthens the Opposition's calls for a Royal Commission into the integrity crisis in the Palaszczuk Government.
When governments give up on integrity, they give up on governing for the people they were elected to represent.
When a culture rots through a government, it is no longer about serving the people, it’s about serving their mates. That’s when the services Queenslanders rely on - hospitals, putting a roof over their head, and law and order - descend into chaos.
Since the election of the Palaszczuk Government seven years ago, we’ve had three Health Ministers, three Police Ministers, three Housing Ministers but only one Premier.
A Premier who has overseen a rotten culture that’s delivered rotten services to Queenslanders.
This report shows the rotten culture comes from the top.
A Royal Commission must be held to end the integrity inferno burning through this State Government.
Deputy Leader of the Opposition Jarrod Bleijie:
The damning report into the Palaszczuk Government shows the lack of leadership that has led us here today.
The Premier has overseen a toxic culture in her government for seven years and has allowed it to fester.
Queenslanders will rightly question if she can be trusted to fix the toxic culture she has created.
The fish rots from the head.
There is one common denominator and that is the Premier.
It’s time she called a Royal Commission into the toxic culture of the government she leads.
Shadow Minister for Integrity in Government Fiona Simpson:
The Premier must today prove she realises she has a transparency problem not a political problem.
She must adopt the recommendations with timelines to hold her accountable and commit to fixing the issues she has overseen in her government.
The broken Committee process, the protection racket of Estimates, and the hiding behind conflict of interest, must end today.
The State Government is failing to reach their apprenticeship targets at a time when skilled workers are desperately needed across Queensland.
Over the last seven years, the State Government has fallen short by 14,400 completed apprenticeships.
That means right now, Queensland is missing more than 14,400 qualified tradespeople from all industries like hospitality and construction.
Queensland, especially places like Rockhampton need these skilled workers. Without them, businesses close, projects are delayed and the economy lags.
It is critical for the Government to plan ahead and identify future projects to start training workers now and recruiting them into priority fields.
By training and recruiting local workers, it keeps jobs in the regions.
Apprentices and Trainees Queensland, based in Central Queensland, has put forward a great pilot project to increase capacity of Rockhampton precast concrete manufacturers by upskilling local labour.
This can ensure jobs on major projects like the Rockhampton Ring Road go to locals, and taxpayer money is not wasted on flying in and housing workers from around the state.
It’s vital more apprenticeships are completed right across Queensland and that skilled workers are based in every corner of the state.
Queenslanders deserve a plan to make this happen.
Statement by Brent Mickelberg, Shadow Minister for Small Business
Queensland small businesses were ignored in last week’s state budget with the Treasurer barely giving them a mention let alone significant funding.
Less than $40 million was budgeted to grants and mentoring programs over four years, with only $1 million of that allocated to the coming 2022/23 financial year.
Shadow Minister for Small and Family Business Brent Mickelberg and Member for Burnett Stephen Bennett met with deflated business owners in Bundaberg today, who are feeling let down by the State Government.
“This is a real slap in the face to the thousands of Queensland small business owners who have put their blood, sweat and tears into staying afloat these last couple of years,” Mr Mickelberg said.
“Now is the time for them to grow their businesses but chump change from the State Government won’t help the cause, especially when costs are skyrocketing.
“There was no relief for small businesses in the budget for rising power bills. After wages and rent, electricity is the biggest cost to a small business.
“It’s clear the State Government has no real plan for small business which is disappointing when they are the lifeblood of each community, especially in places like Bundaberg and the Burnett.”
Member for Burnett Stephen Bennett says Bundaberg small businesses are feeling the pressure of cost-of-living expenses.
“We have just shy of 3,000 small businesses in Bundaberg and another 3,600 in the Burnett.
“Small and family businesses are huge employers in the region and without them, we’d be in real trouble.
“I’m disappointed that small businesses were ignored in the State Budget. They deserve better after battling for so long.”
Statement by Jarrod Bleijie, Deputy Opposition Leader
This is laughable, if this is the Premier’s version of reforming how Labor lobbyists interact with the Palaszczuk Government.
The Premier should at least pretend to wet the lettuce before waving it around.
Clearly the Premier sees this as a political issue not an integrity issue.
This is window dressing.
What’s actually changed? A few people have to change their email signatures.
Real reform would deal with things like:
1. Labor lobbyists operating out of taxpayer funded buildings running the Labor Party’s election campaign.
2. Labor lobbyists being given favourable access to the Palaszczuk Government in return for electoral success.
3. Labor lobbyists winning positive outcomes for clients at a disproportionate rate.
4. Labor lobbyists being paid taxpayers’ money by Government Owned Corporations and then donating to the Labor party.
5. The close personal and professional ties between lobbyists and the Palaszczuk Government.
6. The huge amounts of money pouring from Labor lobbyists into the pockets of the Labor Party.
The Premier has a habit of updating Ministerial Codes but never enforcing them.
We all know the Premier announcing this one week after the CCC announced it was focusing on links between the Palaszczuk Government and Labor lobbyists, and just one day before the Coaldrake Review is made public, is nothing more than an attempt by the Premier to look like she’s doing something instead of actually doing something.
The Premier doesn’t want to take real action because Labor lobbyists donate to her Labor Party. Simple.
Integrity is dead in Queensland and clearly the Premier has no interest or is incapable of reviving it.
This is why we need a full Royal Commission into the Integrity Crisis burning through the Palaszczuk Government.
Queenslanders deserve a government that cares about integrity, not one that spends every day running from it.
The LNP Opposition is demanding the State Government be upfront with Queenslanders about what is really being delivered in the months and years ahead to heal the Queensland Health Crisis.
Leader of the Opposition David Crisafulli said the Budget had revealed Labor’s hospitals plan was severely underfunded.
“Queenslanders are finding it increasingly hard to trust the State Government,” Mr Crisafulli said.
“Budget analysis shows that the State Government hasn’t been upfront with Queenslanders.
“Less than 1% of State Government funding will be spent in the first 12 months for new hospitals, and nearly half of it is completely missing from the Budget.
“Glossy brochures and hollow promises won’t heal the health crisis.
“Queenslanders want real solutions, not hollow headlines.
“After breaking the health system for the past seven years, the State Government wants another seven years to fix the Queensland Health Crisis.
“That is why the LNP has put solutions on the table including more resources, better triaging, sharing data in real time and above all put local doctors and nurses back in charge.”
Shadow Treasurer David Janetzki said less than 1% of the promised funding will trickle through over the next 12 months for three new hospitals in Bundaberg, Coomera and Toowoomba.
“Across the forwards, the State Government has sneakily failed to budget more than 40% of the funding, “Mr Janetzki said.
“Only $5.7 billion is allocated in the Budget, despite the price tag being nearly $10 billion.
“There is a huge black hole in the State Government’s hospitals promise and Queenslanders deserve to know the truth.”
Shadow Health Minister Ros Bates said the State Government was only interested in chasing headlines.
“The facts are there is a huge funding black hole in this hospital promise,” Ms Bates said.
“The health crisis is happening now.
“People are dying waiting for ambulances now.
“The Gold Coast is 500 beds short.
“Patients are asking what the State Government is going to do to fix the health crisis.
“As a nurse and former hospital administrator I know how exhausted our hardworking doctors and nurses.
“Doctors, nurses, paramedics and allied health professionals deserve more respect and resources from the State Government.”
Statement from Jarrod Bleijie, Deputy Opposition Leader
Labor’s push to legislate changes to the Industrial Relations Act is an attack on workers’ choice.
Queenslanders should have the right to choose who represents them in the workplace and not be forced to join unions that line the pockets of their Labor mates.
This bill, introduced by the Palaszczuk Government under the cover of the Budget this week, removes that right.
The Crime and Corruption Commission just last week called for public submissions into undue influence of decision makers in the Palaszczuk Government.
This bill is a classic example of the very issue the Crime and Corruption will be investigating.
We must weed out this type of corruption risk.
Tens of thousands of Queenslanders have chosen to join an unaffiliated union. They will now be forced to have their money funnelled to political campaigns that support the Labor Party.
This will force Queenslanders who have chosen their own representation to now join a left-leaning political union and pay twice as much in fees.
The stench of corruption coming from the Palaszczuk Labor Government is overpowering.
We must stop Labor from just governing for their mates.
We will fight for Queenslanders and their right to choose.
Queenslanders deserve so much better from this government.
If the Palaszczuk Government’s integrity wasn’t already dead, the actions of Labor MPs today is the final nail in the coffin.
The Member for Capalaba Don Brown, the Member for Cooper Jonty Bush, the Member for Mount Ommaney Jess Pugh and the Member for Ipswich Jennifer Howard must explain themselves.
Why do they deserve to hold public office?
Elected officials work for Queenslanders and on this occasion the Labor MPs didn’t even turn up to work.
Queenslanders know full well these MPs are only following orders from above.
Who is the Labor puppet master pulling the strings, so hell-bent on blocking the truth from coming out about Jackie Trad?
What are they trying to hide?
If the four Labor MPs were smart they would cut their Labor bosses loose because the Queenslanders they represent won’t stand for this disgraceful affront to democracy.
Statement from David Crisafulli, Leader of the Opposition
Today, I announced that a Crisafulli LNP Government will re-establish the Queensland Productivity Commission.
This will unleash Queensland’s potential and bring back the fresh ideas so desperately needed after the third-term of this tired Labor Government.
The Queensland Productivity Commission will join the Parliamentary Budget Office as key independent bodies to restore Queenslanders’ trust in the state finances.
Labor abolished this independent agency because they are only interested in power. They couldn’t control it, so it had to go.
A future LNP Government will embrace fresh ideas and drive a productivity agenda.
With rising cost pressures forecast to continue, productivity is key to driving the economy forward.
Queenslanders expect their government to drive productivity and enhance service delivery. They are not getting either from this tired, third-term government.
The LNP will offer real, practical solutions to improve women’s economic security under a Crisafulli Government.
A dedicated Minister for Women’s Economic Security will be appointed and will work alongside the Treasurer and Finance Minister.
Two of these three positions will be women.
I applaud this announcement made by the Leader of the Opposition David Crisafulli today during the 2022 Budget Reply.
We need to shift the paradigm in relation to women’s economic security in this state.
It is about aspiration, not victimisation.
The NSW Government this week announced a massive injection of funding that is practical and targeted to women.
A $32 million grants program to provide $5,000 payments to women to cover the costs of technology, wardrobe and training needs when returning to work, more than $30 million to specifically support women in business and $5 billion over the next 10 years for childcare, including $775 million in the next four years.
It is this type of real action that is required to address women’s economic security in Queensland.
Queensland currently has the second worst gender pay gap in the country of 15.6%, higher than the national average of 13.8%
While NSW improved its gap from 13.4% in November 2020, to 12% in November 2021, in Queensland it increased to 15.6%
The women’s participation rate is still lagging 63.7% to men’s 70.9%
The Palaszczuk Labor Government’s Budget doesn’t do enough for women.
It doesn’t give real, practical and specific solutions to provide more opportunities and support for women.
Most of the measures under Economic Security in the Women’s Budget Statement are not just for women.
In fact, if you total the amount for the specific projects there are on Women’s Economic Security you barely crack $1 million.
It’s not good enough.
We need the talk backed up with action.
Equality matters.
Statement by Jarrod Bleijie, Deputy Leader of the Opposition
Today’s commitment by the Leader of the Opposition David Crisafulli to fund the state’s share of heavy passenger rail on the Sunshine Coast is incredible news for our region.
This rail line from Beerwah to Caloundra to Kawana to Maroochydore will connect the Sunshine Coast to south-east Queensland in preparation for the Olympics.
The Palaszczuk Government did not allocate a single dollar in the State Budget to build this major infrastructure project for the Sunshine Coast.
In its Budget, the former Federal Government committed 50% of the $3.2 billion cost to deliver this project.
A Crisafulli State Government will match this funding.
The only thing standing in the way of this critical rail line on the Sunshine Coast is the Palaszczuk Labor Government.
In these tricky economic times, the last thing Queenslanders need is tricky numbers.
Today’s so-called announcement regarding social housing is sadly not new and won’t provide one extra home for Queenslanders in need.
The State Government has now lost an entire year on this program because they couldn’t organise how to deliver it.
Queenslanders need roofs over their heads, not recycled late announcements.
Queenslanders deserve so much better than this.
Queensland’s corruption watchdog has opened a Pandora’s box into the dodgy, rotten dealings of the Palaszczuk Government.
In an extraordinary development for our state, the Crime and Corruption Commission has announced it is examining the relationship between the Palaszczuk Government and Labor lobbyists.
You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to work it out.
The Palaszczuk Government is dodgy and rotten and running out of lives.
It is clear the relationship between the Palaszczuk Government and lobbyists is getting murkier by the day, and Queenslanders rightly do not like it.
This goes to the heart of the Integrity Crisis which must be prized open.
Make no mistake, this is very serious.
The Opposition has repeatedly called for a Royal Commission into the Queensland Integrity Crisis.
The Palaszczuk Government is already embroiled in:
1/ a Royal Commission into the Crime and Corruption Commission,
2/ a Royal Commission into police handling of domestic violence victims,
3/ a Royal Commission into the forensics lab,
4/ an inquiry into the QBCC,
5/ the Coaldrake review into the culture of the public service,
6/ a review into the Public Records Act by a former judge,
7/ the CCC investigation into the laptop affair,
8/ former Deputy Premier Jackie Trad attempting to suppress CCC reports in the courts
9/ the Star inquiry
Now the CCC is upping the ante on dodgy lobbying dealings.
The Queensland Integrity Crisis has exposed the Palaszczuk Government.
This matters to every Queenslander because instead of fixing the Queensland Health Crisis or the Housing Crisis or the Youth Crime Crisis or the Cost of Living Crisis, this government is focused on helping its mates.
Is it any wonder Queenslanders can’t trust this government?
Queenslanders deserve so much better.
Statement from Laura Gerber, Shadow Assistant Minister for Justice
The announcement that screening for Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA) will be funded in Queensland is a win for families who have been campaigning for this for years.
I’d like to thank and acknowledge those families who have been a loud voice fighting for this cause.
SMA screening should have been funded years ago.
It would have saved lives.
It has been funded in other states but not in Queensland and infants have passed away and others diagnosed too late as a result of the Queensland Government’s inaction.
SMA if detected at birth can be treated and children can live a relatively normal life.
Unfortunately, that has not been the case for many Queensland babies, like baby Mia, who was just six months old when she succumbed to SMA.
Mia’s mother Jessica has today asked me to issue a statement on her behalf.
Jessica says,
“No words can explain how much this means, not just to us, but to every family out there that has been affected by Spinal Muscular Atrophy.
“Introduction to early newborn screening will give these future babies a better chance at life.
“Early detection is crucial as SMA is a degenerative disease and if this had been in place when our daughter Mia was born we would still have our baby girl with us today.
“We miss our Mia every day but we are so thankful that we are able to raise awareness so other families won’t have to go through what we went through.”
No other Queensland family should ever have to go through this.
The Palaszczuk Government must end the postcode lottery and immediately fund screening programs to protect babies born with spinal muscular atrophy in next week’s State Budget.
Currently, babies born in New South Wales, Western Australia and the ACT are screened for SMA at birth and Victoria has just agreed to do the same, saving countless lives.
But in Queensland, families are suffering enormous heartache when a simple test could save their babies' lives.
I have personally been raising this issue on behalf of these Queensland families since I was elected as the Member for Currumbin.
We must not let another baby suffer or die from SMA when this tragic outcome is completely preventable with early detection through screening at birth.
Almost 15,000 Queenslanders have signed a petition and another 500 have sent letters to the Health Minister pleading with her to fund this program.
The Australian Medical Association of Queensland which has been advocating for this funding since 2019, stated in last year’s budget submission that it would only cost around $700,000 to make the program a reality with the test costing the system just $10.
Spinal muscular atrophy is the leading genetic cause of death in infants under the age of two. If detected at birth and treated, children born with SMA can live a relatively healthy life.
But if not picked up at birth, the baby’s loss of motor neurons and muscle wasting can never be reversed, and most succumb to the disease before the age of four.
The Minister must start listening to these families and she must act now to protect more babies’ lives.
The Health Minister has blatantly misled Queenslanders.
This is either extreme incompetence or deliberate deception.
Either way the Health Minister must provide a full explanation to Queenslanders.
For weeks, the Palaszczuk Government crowed about how well Sunshine Coast University Hospital was performing with only 18% of patients being ramped, when in reality they were using false figures.
The truth is it’s more than double that number.
The Health Minister had actually switched the ambulance ramping figure for Sunshine Coast University Hospital (SCUH) with the ramping figure for the Queensland Children’s Hospital.
The Health Minister had muddled up her hospitals.
Worse, the Health Minister had families thinking 40% of young patients were being ramped at the Queensland Children’s Hospital. What an absolute disgrace.
The Health Minister can’t even get her basic facts straight.
How can Queenslanders possibly trust the Palaszczuk Government when they can’t even get their hospitals right?
What other errors are there with the state’s health data?
This data is used to make key decisions for our health system. Details matter.
This affects resources, this affects our hospitals.
When it comes to managing the health system we have never seen a government more untrustworthy than the Palaszczuk Government.
Queenslanders deserve so much better than this.
Queensland small and family businesses need urgent support to manage the rising electricity prices.
The State Government is profiting from publicly owned electricity generators and instead of helping Queensland small businesses, they are keeping the money like some kind of secret tax.
Households will receive a $175 rebate on their next power bill, but small businesses won’t see a cent.
After wages and rent, electricity is the biggest cost to small businesses.
With nothing to offset the rising power prices, businesses will need to pass the cost onto customers by increasing their own prices.
This at a time when Queensland families are already struggling with the cost of living.
The State Government continues to ignore small and family businesses.
Queensland small and family businesses deserve better.
When governments fail to plan, they plan to fail.
For over a year now, the Opposition has been asking what is the Palaszczuk Government’s plan to ensure affordable, clean and reliable energy is supplied to Queensland businesses and households?
For over a year now, we have not seen any plan from the Palaszczuk Government on how it will deliver affordable, clean and reliable energy for Queenslanders.
Queenslanders are struggling to trust the Palaszczuk Government on energy.
We were told when the Callide C4 generator went down last year, it wouldn’t impact energy prices or reliability.
This has been proven to be a lie.
Tonight, 3 out of the 4 generators at Callide aren’t operating.
This is an abject failure.
The only solution we have seen from the Palaszczuk Government so far is telling Queenslanders to turn off their air-conditioners in summer and turn off their heaters in winter.
Experts have even predicting we would see energy shortages in Queensland by 2025, but under the Palaszczuk Government it’s arrived 3 years early.
These warnings are cold comfort for Queenslanders.
Queensland already has the highest power prices in the country and now we’re being warned that the lights may not even stay on.
Major employers are tonight shutting down and Queenslanders’ lifestyles are being impacted because of a government that has failed to plan for the future.
Queenslanders deserve so much better than this.
The LNP has backed a petition calling for an appeal to a manifestly inadequate sentence handed down to a juvenile offender who killed a young couple and their unborn baby in the Redlands last year.
The petition also calls for changes to the Youth Justice Act to curb the growing youth crime crisis and to legislate breach of bail as an offence to prevent the horrific trauma happening to any other Queensland families.
Matthew Field, Kate Leadbetter and their unborn son Miles were innocently walking their dogs on Australia Day last year when they were hit by an out-of-control stolen car, driven by a teenager who was drunk, high and out on bail.
He will only spend six years of a 10-year sentence behind bars. He will be free at the age of 23.
Leader of the Opposition David Crisafulli today joined Redland City Council Mayor Karen Williams and the parents of Matthew Field, Russell and Ann, who launched the petition at the crash site.
Mr Crisafulli said the LNP joined the Mayor and the families to fight for change.
“We must appeal this sentence and we must change the Youth Justice Act which is letting down Queenslanders across our state,” he said.
“Russell and Ann have gone through what no parents should ever have to.
“This tragedy rocked the families, it tore apart the community and it showed us all in Queensland that we have to do more to get on top of youth crime.”
Mayor Karen Williams said there was a groundswell of support in the Redlands community for change.
“Community outrage can now be turned into community outcome,” she said.
“The one thing we can do as a community is to make a difference.
“Community outrage changed gun laws in this country, community outrage put coercive control on the agenda, and today I ask our communities to make sure this law is changed in the name of Kate, Matthew and Miles.”
Local MP Mark Robinson called on all members of the Redlands community to sign the petition.
“This tragedy sent shockwaves through our community last year,” he said.
“We now need to get behind this petition in the name of change and in the memory of Matt, Kate and Miles whose lives were so tragically taken last year.”
Mr Crisafulli said the youth justice system in Queensland was broken and again called for breach of bail to be legislated as an offence.
“We must have laws in this state that are fit for purpose, we must have a Youth Justice Act that enables young offenders to turn their lives around and we must also impose sentences that protect our community.
“We must stand for change.”
The LNP is calling on the State Government to outline a clear path forward for businesses to transition to more sustainable packaging.
It has now been over four months since consultation on the next phase of the ban on single use plastics ended and nine months since the first stage began and yet the Minister still hasn’t given us a plan.
Queenslanders overwhelmingly support eliminating unnecessary plastics but small and family businesses, as well as community groups, need support and resources to help them with any changes.
Most importantly, they need a clear timeframe to manage their stock, find alternatives and determine their budgets.
The government needs to understand the impact this has on Queenslanders and to show them the respect they deserve by giving them as much time as possible.
I call on the Minister to be upfront with Queenslanders about this important change so we can make our state more sustainable and take people on that journey instead of leaving them scrambling.
The Palaszczuk Government has badly failed vulnerable Queenslanders who just want a roof over their head.
The reports today from the Productivity Commission are alarming.
The Palaszczuk Government has been exposed as spending less than any other state or territory on social housing.
This is inexcusable and has directly added to the housing crisis.
We have more than 50,000 people on the social housing waiting list in Queensland.
It is unforgivable for the Palaszczuk Government to spend the least amount of any state in the country.
If the Premier and her Housing Minister had done its job and properly planned and funded social housing, families wouldn’t be sleeping in tents and cars right now.
The Palaszczuk Government has failed its most basic job, putting a roof over the heads of vulnerable Queenslanders.
Queenslanders deserve better than this.
New analysis of Queensland’s major infrastructure projects has laid bare the Palaszczuk Government’s inability to manage major infrastructure projects.
The Palaszczuk Government’s infrastructure blowout bill has now soared to a whopping $3.5 billion.
The Opposition is calling on the Palaszczuk Government to explain why the following projects have blown out:
This extraordinary cost blowout could fund:
or
or
or
or
Shadow Minister for Transport and Main Roads Steve Minnikin said Mark Bailey must come clean about why the State Government can’t control its spending with most of these huge blowouts falling under the transport portfolio.
“Mark Bailey’s budget blowouts are going to cost Queenslanders big time,” he said.
“This matters to every single Queenslander because it means the Palaszczuk Government will likely have to cover this soaring waste with a new tax in the middle of a cost of living crisis.
“Every time Mark Bailey blows his budget it means there is less money for things like nurses, doctors, paramedics or hospital beds.
“The sad reality is Queenslanders will be slugged with higher taxes because of Mark Bailey’s incompetence and all they’ll be paying for is his wasteful spending.
“The Palaszczuk Government is going to have to find money to cover the blowouts from somewhere and as we know the Labor Government has form with taxing Queenslanders.
“Queensland deserves a government that can plan properly for the future and deliver infrastructure on time and on budget.”
Statement from Pat Weir, Shadow Minister for Energy
I am calling on the Palaszczuk Government to immediately issue a direction to the government’s energy generators to force them to cease their overbidding practices on the wholesale energy market.
There is evidence the state-owned energy generators are overbidding on the market which is further driving up prices.
This is putting upward pressure on the energy bills of Queenslanders at a time when cost of living pressures continue to rise.
It is the Palaszczuk Government that reaps the profits of this overbidding which props up the State Budget.
Queensland has the highest energy prices in the country.
The shareholding Ministers for the energy generators are Treasurer Cameron Dick and Energy Minister Mick de Brenni.
Queenslanders' energy bills are soaring. Why haven’t the Ministers already issued this direction?
Short-term action won’t fix this crisis, we need long-term vision and thinking.
The Ministers must start listening to the needs of Queenslanders.
Businesses are going to go broke.
Queensland families are currently choosing whether to pay an energy bill or put food on the table.
The Palaszczuk Government can and should act now.
The Palaszczuk Government has been caught in the past overbidding on the National Energy Market.
The government has previously issued a direction to the generators, and it's time for another direction to be issued now.
This is about ensuring Queenslanders’ energy bills don’t remain high in the long term.
The third-term Palaszczuk Government is running out of ideas despite the worsening health crisis, integrity scandals and youth crime spiraling out of control.
New analysis of Queensland Parliament has revealed the number of bills introduced under Premier Palaszczuk every year has slumped to 37.7.
In Queensland now just 38.4 bills are passed each year.
Compare that to the former LNP Government which introduced an average of 60.3 new laws each year, passing 58.3 annually.
The final three years of the Bligh Government saw an average of 60.7 bills introduced to Parliament, with 51 becoming legislation.
Manager for Opposition Business Andrew Powell points out taxpayers are funding a do-nothing government that no longer seems in touch with the needs of Queenslanders.
“There are fewer bills being introduced into the Queensland Parliament because this out-of-touch, third-term government doesn’t have an agenda,” Mr Powell said.
“Queensland also has the least number of Parliamentary sitting days in mainland Australia.
“Labor has reduced the amount of sitting days to avoid scrutiny.
“They’re running from transparency.
“Now more than ever Queenslanders deserve a State Government that values openness, transparency and accountability.
“This is a third-term government that is no longer listening or meeting the expectations of Queenslanders.
“The Premier is more interested in managing her government’s image instead of actually working for Queenslanders.
“For Labor to set aside only 40 Parliament sitting days during the Covid pandemic, integrity scandals, flooding emergency, health crisis, youth crime wave and severe social housing shortage shows how out of touch this State Government is.
“The State Government is only interested with how things look, not how they are.”
Reports that the Queensland Police Service will now review hundreds of rape cases examined by the Forensic Services Lab is a startling admission of the Lab's failings.
This should send shockwaves through the Palaszczuk Government which has failed to listen to the cries for help.
It is the firm view of the Opposition that the operations and outcomes of the Lab should be examined by the new Commission of Inquiry being conducted into the Queensland Police Service.
In some cases, DNA couldn’t be found in fresh blood samples.
That is extraordinary.
It is simply not acceptable that victims are being denied justice and criminals are walking free.
The Palaszczuk Government through its lack of inaction doesn’t comprehend how serious this is.
It’s incredibly traumatic for a victim of sexual assault to go through a forensic medical examination.
They need to have every assurance that they won’t be robbed of justice because of the failings of the Lab.
Victims deserve better and the Opposition will continue to be a voice for them and will continue advocating for the Lab to be included in the Police Inquiry.
There is growing evidence the Queensland Government’s energy generators are rorting the National Energy Market, pushing up power prices for Queenslanders and businesses.
The Premier and her Energy Minister should intervene just like they did in 2017 and direct the energy generators to reduce their exorbitant bidding practices so we can reduce energy bills.
The State Government is milking excessive profits from our generators and trickling only a handful of that money back to consumers.
Queensland has the highest electricity prices in the country.
If the State Government keeps this up, prices will skyrocket even higher.
It’s costing households.
It’s costing businesses.
The Palaszczuk Government must act before businesses go broke and the rising cost of living pressures hit Queenslanders even harder.
