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Ros Bates referred to ethics committee over registered nurse claim
By Amy Remeikis
Former arts minister Ros Bates has been referred to the Parliamentary Ethics Committee over her claims she was a registered nurse.
Ms Bates made the claim while speaking on the government's Industrial Relations Transparency and Accountability legislation in early June.
Liberal National Party MP Ros Bates has been referred to Parliament's ethics committee.Credit: Harrison Saragossi
During her 8.30pm statement on June 5, Ms Bates said "as a registered nurse, I obviously know many nurses".
A subsequent investigation by the Queensland Nurses Union found Ms Bates had allowed her registration to lapse and while she was a qualified nurse, she was not a registered nurse.
At the time, the Mudgeeraba MP accused the union of "nit-picking" over her qualifications, but Opposition health spokeswoman Jo-Ann Miler referred the matter to the Speaker, Fiona Simpson.
Addressing the House shortly before Parliament concluded on Thursday, Ms Simpson said after reviewing the matter, she had decided to refer the issue to the ethics committee, but added a referral was not an indicator of guilt.
Ms Bates was not present in the chamber to hear Ms Simpson's determination.
Gold Coast MP Michael Crandon was named as the replacement chair for the ethics committee after Peter Dowling was forced to step aside after he was outed by News Limited in a sexting scandal.