Category Archives: Queensland politics

Embattled Queensland minister Amanda Camm quits Crisafulli frontbench citing health and safety reasons

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Camm, who resigned following months of pressure over her handling of state’s child safety system, cited Helen Haines attack as reason for departure

The Queensland minister Amanda Camm has resigned from cabinet following months of pressure over the state government’s handling of the child safety system and efforts to prevent domestic and family violence.

Camm told reporters on Friday the decision to step down was “mine alone”.

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Queensland’s LNP has trodden softly in government. It’s now baring its teeth over the power to break up workers’ strikes

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The controversial legislation may end up placing large sections of its suburban support – critical to the party’s lead in the polls – on the bonfire

For almost two years, the Liberal National party’s strategy for government in Queensland has been to stay well clear of issues that risk burning through political capital.

On Wednesday, one of the most tentative conservative governments in recent history announced plans for sweeping and controversial changes to workplace laws.

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Queensland anti-corruption commission investigated just 20 of more than 6,000 complaints in a year

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Statistics showed there is ‘almost no chance’ a complaint made against a government department like the police would be investigated independently, expert says

Queensland’s anti-corruption commission has investigated just 20 of more than 6,000 complaints of suspected corruption in the past year, as the state government comes under renewed pressure to implement a years-late recommendation to end the practice of police investigating police.

The statistic was revealed in Queensland’s Crime and Corruption Commission’s annual report, tabled in state parliament on Friday afternoon.

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Anthropic lands deal in $31bn datacentre in western Queensland, David Crisafulli says

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Premier describes deal as ‘major win’ that will deliver more jobs for the state and put more energy into its grid

Anthropic, the AI company behind the large language model Claude, has done a deal to lease the site of its first Australian datacentre in western Queensland.

The $31.9bn datacentre will be the largest of its kind in Australia, according to planning documents.

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Queensland reveals concept plans for Brisbane Olympic stadium precinct – but critics say they are ‘fantasy vision’

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David Crisafulli says ‘Queenslanders will enjoy for generations’ as opponents point to lack of detail

The Queensland government has released new concept images for a parkland precinct to surround the 2032 Olympic stadium, as it seeks to quell concern at the loss of Brisbane’s largest inner-city parkland.

But opponents of the plans – now entering the early construction phase – to build a stadium at Brisbane’s Victoria Park say the concept images are a “fantasy vision” with no detail, and which overlook the likely need for carparks, roads, transport links and plazas to accommodate large crowds.

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The Queensland government promised to put victims first. Instead it buried a report from domestic violence survivors

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Exclusive: Report from LNP-convened panel heavily criticises police responses to family violence and calls for civilian oversight

The Queensland government has buried the findings of its own working group of domestic violence victim-survivors, after their report was heavily critical of police responses and called for a “civilian review mechanism” to escalate complaints about police.

The Liberal National government has repeatedly said it would “put victims at the heart” of the state’s justice policies.

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Here we Joh again? The spectre of Bjelke-Petersen still looms large over Queensland

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The LNP’s unapologetic moves on crime, transgender healthcare and police-led suppression of protests are a throwback to days many thought had come and gone

A sign stopped Aunty Sandra King in her tracks. The elder of the Yagara, Quandamooka and Bundjalung people, now in her 70s, spoke at a protest last month against plans to build an Olympic stadium in the heart of Brisbane’s Victoria Park.

In the crowd a man held aloft a homemade placard with the words “I Preferred Joh”.

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Government declines to protect Indigenous sacred site to be bulldozed for Brisbane Olympic stadium

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Environment minister Murray Watt decides against emergency declaration to halt construction but does not rule out ‘longer term protections’

The federal government has decided against an 11th-hour intervention to halt construction of an Olympic stadium and aquatic centre in the heart of Brisbane, in a park that traditional owners say is a First Nations sacred site.

The environment minister, Murray Watt, issued a statement on Sunday afternoon to say he had considered applications made under the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Heritage Protection Act for him to stop construction in Victoria Park.

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LNP falls ‘agonisingly short’ in Stafford byelection as Labor suffers swing against it

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Opposition expected to retain the northern Brisbane seat, with Luke Richmond ahead of Fiona Hammond by more than 700 votes

Queensland opposition leader Steven Miles says he has caucus support to remain Labor leader “right now”, after the party suffered a swing against it at a byelection in the north of Brisbane.

Labor is expected to retain the northern Brisbane seat of Stafford, but recorded an 8% swing against it on primary votes. Candidate Luke Richmond was ahead of the Liberal National party candidate, Fiona Hammond, by 768 votes as of Sunday morning, with counting expected to continue later in the day.

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Queensland arts minister ignored recommendation that new theatre be named after poet Oodgeroo Noonuccal

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Exclusive: Queensland Performing Arts Centre board nominated Oodgeroo as preferred name in 2024 but it was not one of four options put to public vote by LNP

A Queensland government minister intervened to ensure that a new theatre would not be named after the Aboriginal poet Oodgeroo Noonuccal, overriding the theatre’s board, according to documents obtained under right to information laws.

The late artist’s name is also set to be stripped from a state electorate, in draft electoral boundaries released by the state’s redistribution commission this week. The Liberal National party lobbied for the change.

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Queensland’s ‘from the river to the sea’ laws likened to Bjelke-Petersen era anti-protest regime

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Health minister Tim Nicholls corrects claim alleged Bondi terror attack gunman Naveed Akram used controversial phrase, as laws roundly criticised

Police arresting pro-Palestinian protesters for using the phrase “from the river to the sea” had “all the hallmarks of an authoritarian police state”, according to a Greens MP, amid widespread backlash against Queensland’s new hate speech laws.

The controversial laws went into effect yesterday after passing a vote in parliament last week.

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Queensland’s ‘from the river to the sea’ laws likened to Bjelke-Petersen era anti-protest regime

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Health minister Tim Nicholls corrects claim alleged Bondi terror attack gunman Naveed Akram used controversial phrase, as laws roundly criticised

Police arresting pro-Palestinian protesters for using the phrase “from the river to the sea” had “all the hallmarks of an authoritarian police state”, according to a Greens MP, amid widespread backlash against Queensland’s new hate speech laws.

The controversial laws went into effect yesterday after passing a vote in parliament last week.

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Climate-sceptic IPA refuses to reveal funders in fiery Senate inquiry

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Australia’s richest person, Gina Rinehart has previously donated to Institute of Public Affairs but thinktank won’t say if she remains a donor

A thinktank known for its rejection of the climate crisis and a conservation group that has opposed renewable energy projects refused to identify their funders during a fiery Senate inquiry into climate and energy misinformation on Wednesday.

Chair of the committee, Greens senator Peter Whish-Wilson, asked Rainforest Reserves Australia’s vice-president, Steven Nowakowski, who had funded nine full-page newspaper advertisements promoting an open letter attacking a shift to renewable energy and promoting nuclear.

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Twice as effective as nets: shark-spotting drones to become ‘permanent fixture’ on Queensland beaches

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State government says expanded use of shark nets and drum lines will continue despite evidence of deadly impact on other marine life

Queensland will roll out shark-spotting drones to more beaches, after a major study found drones detected more than double the number of sharks caught in adjacent nets.

But while drones would become a “permanent fixture” of the state’s shark-control operations, the Department of Primary Industries said Queensland would continue to rely on “traditional measures like nets and drum lines”, despite evidence of their deadly impact on dolphins, whales, turtles and dugongs.

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Mother of transgender teen accuses Queensland government of privacy breach that could have ‘outed’ her child

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Revelation comes as LNP accused of ‘intimidation’ after demanding sensitive medical details from parents of transgender children

The Queensland government released private information about the mother of a transgender teenager – information she says potentially “outed” her child – to a stranger.

The revelation came as the state government was accused of “intimidation” and “an invasion of privacy” after demanding confidential medical information from parents of transgender children who are considering a further legal challenge to its controversial ban on puberty blockers.

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Queensland to create public register of sex offenders as Daniel Morcombe’s parents ‘hope it will go national’

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Bruce and Denise Morcombe call on other states to act as LNP passes ‘Daniel’s law’, allowing public naming of some child sexual abusers

Queensland parliament has passed laws to create the state’s first public register of some child sexual abusers, with the new legislation named in memory of child murder victim Daniel Morcombe.

The move adds momentum to a campaign by Daniel’s parents, Bruce and Denise Morcombe, for a national register. The couple founded the child safety education charity the Daniel Morcombe Foundation after the murder of their 13-year-old son in 2003 by paedophile Brett Peter Cowan.

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Woman who overturned Queensland’s puberty blocker ban ‘not backing away from the fight’ after LNP reinstates it

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Exclusive: Parent who successfully challenged previous ban on children being prescribed hormones for gender dysphoria considers new lawsuit

The mother of a transgender child who successfully sued to overturn Queensland’s ban on puberty blockers and hormone treatments for children with gender dysphoria says she is “not backing away from the fight” after the government reinstated the ban hours after her supreme court victory.

The woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, is considering launching another lawsuit to overturn the health minister’s decision on Tuesday evening to issue a new order preventing patients under 18 and not already on a treatment plan from accessing the drugs in the public system.

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Queensland puberty blocker ban reinstated by health minister hours after supreme court overturned it

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Move comes after parent successfully challenged LNP’s previous ban on new patients under 18 accessing hormone treatments for gender dysphoria

The Queensland health minister has issued a new order banning the prescription of puberty blockers for transgender patients, just hours after the state’s supreme court ruled the government’s first attempt was unlawful.

On Tuesday, Justice Peter Callaghan ruled in favour of a challenge by the parent of a transgender child, judging that the January directive establishing the ban was made improperly and was unlawful.

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A year on as Queensland premier, will David Crisafulli’s small-target strategy prove his undoing?

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The LNP government has a firm stance on only one issue – youth crime – and is looking like it’s in need of an agenda

When David Crisafulli speaks to the Liberal National party faithful, his message tends to become a blunt warning to members and MPs to keep any unsavoury, unelectable tendencies out of sight.

“We don’t exist for culture wars,” the Queensland premier – who marks a year in office on Sunday – told the party’s state council just after the 2024 election.

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Queensland’s 10-cent container refund scheme referred to crime and corruption commission

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Parliamentary inquiry into Containers for Change recycling program reveals allegations of bullying and conflicts of interest

Ten allegations against Queensland’s container recycling scheme have been referred to the state’s corruption watchdog after a parliamentary inquiry on Thursday revealed allegations of bullying and conflicts of interest.

A parliamentary committee revealed claims that the board coordinating the state’s Containers for Change is “dominated” by Coca-Cola and Lion, with several submissions to the inquiry claiming that the two beverage companies have an incentive to reduce the number of containers being recycled in order to lower their costs.

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