Annastacia Palaszczuk defends Yvette D'Ath in Question Time as LNP targets health issues

Annastacia Palaszczuk has fobbed off Opposition attacks on her Health Minister, rejecting claims it was time for Yvette D'Ath to be moved on.   

The Opposition is putting the blow torch on health in Question Time on Tuesday, asking whether it's time for Yvette D'Ath to move out of the major portfolio. 

Surfers Paradise MP John-Paul Langbroek asked Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk whether it was time for Ms D'Ath to go. 

Ms Palaszczuk responded by saying "N-O".

It came after questions on ongoing maternity issues in Queensland regions, as well as recent revelations of serious concerns about the operation of the spinal unit at the Princess Alexandra Hospital in Brisbane. 

“If even a Queenslander of the Year and doctor can't get a response to his concerns about the PA spinal unit from this Health Minister, how can Queenslanders trust the Minister to fix the Queensland Health crisis?” Deputy Opposition leader Jarrod Bleijie asked.

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Earlier, Deputy Premier and Planning Minister Steven Miles said government had been forced to abandon one of its key urgent accommodation solutions, pulling the pin on transforming Griffith University student accommodation into emergency housing.

Mr Miles said an alternative arrangement has already been struck to replace the failed initiative through the purchase of 64 properties to be used as social housing.

He said the initial deal, which Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk announced as an “urgent” solution in September when she convened the Housing Summit, had become unfeasible given the mounting costly issues associated with the transformation.

$25 million will be invested to purchase the existing dwellings, which is a mix of houses and apartments across the state.

Deputy Premier Steven Miles in Question Time. File picture: NCA NewsWire / Sarah Marshall

“After consulting with Queensland’s leading housing advocacy group, QShelter, we’ve made the decision to purchase homes directly on the private market, to get more people into accommodation quicker,” Mr Miles said.

“We haven’t taken this decision lightly. Many Queenslanders, who have never experienced housing stress before, are struggling and we are committed to doing as much as we can.

“Unforeseen challenges at the Griffith site means that this is simply a better, faster outcome for vulnerable Queenslanders across the state.”

At the time of the September announcement, Mr Miles thanked Griffith University for the proposal, saying the government would “work quickly” to get the facility up and running.

But More than six months later, the government has abandoned the plan saying costs to bring the site up to scratch to satisfy building laws and codes made the project unfeasible.

It is understood the bushland surrounding the accommodation require heightened bushfire protection measures to be followed.

A spokeswoman for the Deputy Premier told The Courier-Mail the replacement properties stretch from Atherton in the far north to sites in South East Queensland.