LNP senator Barry O’Sullivan’s swearing-in marred by State Opposition attack

QUEENSLAND’S newest senator has been sworn in — but not before the Opposition let fly with a “most ungracious” attack.

FORMER LNP treasurer Barry O’Sullivan’s has been sworn in as Queensland’s newest senator — but not before accusations of gender bias and an attack on his character by the State Opposition.

Treasurer Tim Nicholls has described Labor’s attack on Mr O’Sullivan’s swearing in today as the “most ungracious speech” he had heard at a time when protocols dictated the house responds to the filling of the empty senate spot in a “decorous way.”

Mr O’Sullivan’s swearing in sparked an extraordinary exchange between the LNP and Labor members, with Opposition Leader Annastacia Palaszczuk attacking the Liberal National Party for not choosing a woman to replace Senator Barnaby Joyce, who left a vacancy on the senate after stepping down last August to contest a seat in the lower house.

Ms Palaszczuk also took aim at the LNP for leaving a Senate vacancy for so long after temporarily freezing his nomination pending a Crime and Misconduct investigation into an allegation Queensland MP Bruce Flegg was offered an inducement in 2011 to make way for Premier Campbell Newman — then Lord Mayor — to run for a state seat.

Mr O’Sullivan’s LNP colleagues hit back at the attack by describing the former detective as a “straight shooter” who had dedicated years to building up the party, as well as a vocal advocate for a Toowoomba range second crossing.