A major report that could pave the way for the Crime and Corruption Commission to release details of its investigation into former deputy premier Jackie Trad will be released “very shortly” Attorney-General Yvette D’Ath has said.
Ms D’Ath was asked by Opposition counterpart Tim Nicholls if the report contained a specific recommendation to retrospective release of the Trad and Pater Carne CCC reports or not.
She effectively told him to hold his horses and that the government was considering the report and would talk about it in full context when it’s released.
Labor, LNP attacks worsen as critical state election approaches
LNP health spokeswoman Ros Bates has “pleaded” with Shannon Fentiman and others to take down social media posts which she says have resulted in a 'wave of cyber bullying'. QUESTION TIME BLOG
A brutal parliamentary sitting will continue today as Labor and the LNP aim to get the upper hand heading into next month’s state budget.
See how Question Time unfolded.
Updates
CCC report to be released 'very shortly' D'Ath confirms
Enoch 'deeply disappointed' in QPAC delays, but won't reveal potential cost blowout
Opposition arts spokesman Dr Christian Rowan has asked Arts Minister Leeanne Enoch when the new theatre works will be completed at the Queensland Performing Arts Centre (QPAC) and how much the project is expected to now cost.
It comes after this paper revealed the $175m project, first announced in 2018, is facing further delays and won't open until 2026 – four years later than initially planned.
Ms Enoch said the QPAC contractor Lendlease had confirmed the new theatre building would not be delivered this year, blaming the 2022 flood event, construction insolvencies and supply chain issues as main reasons for the excessive delays.
"I am so deeply disappointed for the arts sector that this project has been delayed again," she said.
The Minister did not answer how much the theatre works would cost.
-Taylah Fellows
Katter's attack on Labor's regional record
Katter's Australian Party leader Robbie Katter has accused the government of decimating rural industries and communities, asking what will be next.
Police minister Mark Ryan spoke on behalf of the Agricultural Industries minister Mark Furner who was absent due to illness, claiming the government were “very good friends” of rural and regional Australia.
“We know that agriculture is the backbone of rural economies, by supporting and investing in those regional communities we can grow the economy, we can support a very bright future for Queensland,” Mr Ryan said.
“This government has a strong commitment to rural and regional Queensland and we back it up with investment, we back it up with real and measurable support.
“We will continue to invest and will continue to support those industries.”
– Kate Stephenson
Why won't government raise mining royalty base?
Greens MP Michael Berkman has asked Premier Steven Miles, if he's so eager to make miners "pay their fare share", why he won't raise the base rate?
Mr Miles said the government taxed miners when they were making super profits to fund cost of living measures.
He used it to attack the LNP and, without offering detail, said the opposition had done "secret deals with the resource companies".
Miles accuses Opposition of leveraging health system for votes
Premier Steven Miles has accused the LNP of leveraging the health system for votes after using a third straight question time to probe into issues.
Mr Miles was responding to a question from Deputy Opposition Leader Jarrod Bleijie, who asked the Premier “what more” it would take before he sacked Ms Fentiman.
Mr Miles took umbrage at the LNP spending the third question time of the week probing on health and calling for Ms Fentiman to be sacked.
“Now that they’re honest that crime is about winning seats, they should also be honest that their attacks on the health system aren’t about keeping Queenslanders healthy, they are about winning seats,” he said.
“They cherry-pick statistics to try and talk our health system down. Well, we have one of the best universal health care systems in the world.”
Fentiman refuses to put a number on serious clinical incidents at the GCUH
Member for Bonney Sam O'Connor has asked the Health Minister how many severity assessment code 1 (SAC1) near misses occurred at the Gold Coast University Hospital in the past year after she took over the portfolio from Yvette D'Ath.
A SAC1 is a clinical incident resulting in permanent harm or death, with patient outcomes usually a result of the care, or lack of care provided, rather than that person's health condition.
Ms Fentiman said each SAC1 case triggered an automatic clinical review, which were reported nationally, but did not reveal the number of SAC1 incidents at the GCUH over the past 12 months.
"There are very good reasons why SAC1's are managed internally by clinicians, and are reviewed by clinicians," she said.
"They are publicly available."
-Taylah Fellows
New MP adds to Fentiman grilling
Ipswich West MP Darren Zanow has joined in the conga line of questions about Shannon Fentiman's performance as Health Minister.
Mr Zanow asked Ms Fentiman if she felt up to the job following the death of a man yesterday who died of cardiac arrest despite living minutes away from hospital.
Ms Fentiman said the death was unrelated to ramping issues.
“As unfortunate and as sad as this case is of this gentleman passing away and again, my thoughts are with his family today, there was no ramping at the hospital when this occurred,” she said.
“It was categorised as a code one see paramedics got there within 22 minutes and unfortunately, he was in cardiac arrest.
“So the question from the member which asks me why someone had died whilst there was ambulance ramping is completely untrue and misleading.
“I meet fortnightly with the QAS and our heads of emergency department directors and they tell me the initiatives that they asked for, that we are funding, are making a difference.”
– Kate Stephenson
Minister: How many Qlders have to live in pain?
LNP small business spokesman Brent Mickelberg raised the case of 18-year-old Zoe, who is non-verbal and has a rare chromosome disorder – meaning she requires a CT scan under sedation.
Mr Mickelberg said Queensland Health told Zoe she would have to wait until October for a scan, meaning she would be "living in pain" until them.
Ms Fentiman said she was "more than happy to look into that particular case" and said the government was investing in imaging.
'Doing better' than pre-pandemic: Fentiman defends health system amid another death
Health Minister Shannon Fentiman has defended Queensland’s public health system amid an “inundation” of demand from extreme weather and a trio of respiratory diseases.
It comes as Opposition health spokeswoman Ros Bates took aim at the state’s latest ambulance ramping rate—which at 45.5 per cent of patients spent more than 30 minutes waiting to be admitted into the emergency department.
Ms Fentiman, amid the release of the latest Health data, has noted improvements across other performance measures outside ambulance ramping to show the state was doing better than it had pre-pandemic.
Health Minister argues health system is coping with 200 extra paramedics
Opposition Leader David Crisafulli has doubled down on Minister Fentiman, asking her if Labor accepts "any responsibility in the lack of planning and resourcing" for the state's health system over their nearly decade in power, arguing it was hindering the ability of health staff to perform their jobs.
Ms Fentiman fired back saying she had responded to pleas from health workers about needing more paramedics, which she delivered.
"They asked us last year to give them 200 More paramedics, we have already delivered 200 More paramedics," she said.
"We have hundreds more ambulances on the road to keep up with the demands that we are seeing across the state."
-Taylah Fellows
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