The news report published on the ABC News website highlighted Ms D’Ath had received a gift, which she declared, of a storage unit from a prominent Redcliffe businesswoman.
The businesswoman runs a company that leased out space to Queensland Health to run a vaccination clinic.
The Courier-Mail does not suggest any wrongdoing by the health minister.
Queensland Health Director-General Shaun Drummond today defended the Health Minister in relation to the report, which he said made “certain suggestions around the appropriateness of the selection of a site of a Covid vaccination clinic”.
“As the Director-General, and as the former Health Service Chief Executive of Metro North Hospital and Health Service, I can categorically confirm that all appropriate processes were followed,” Mr Drummond said.
“Vaccination clinic sites were chosen to enable the best possible access for the community, and considered building size and layout, parking and transport options, ability to accommodate a short-term fit-out – and often, availability at short notice. Any suggestion or imputation that appropriate procurement processes were not followed is false,” he said.
Mr Drummond said such decisions were operational decisions made by officers of the Department of Health and Hospital and Health Services.
“There was no involvement by the Office of the Minister Health and Ambulances Services, or by the Minister personally. Community-based vaccination clinics were a key component in the vaccination program’s success, making the Covid-19 vaccine available to Queenslanders closer to home.”
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Her comments came after anti-coal protesters infiltrated parliament and were hauled out by police after they brandished banners and chanted “stop coal, stop gas”.
About a dozen Extinction Rebellion protestors seated in the public gallery section of parliament stood from their chairs and waved banners over the bannister chanting “stop coal, stop gas”.
Speaker Curtis Pitt was forced to pause Question Time as authorities ushered the protestors out of the public gallery.
The interruption came after it was revealed that a law created in honour of a teen who was stabbed to death in a random attack will be expanded across Queensland after a successful trial on the Gold Coast.
Jack was stabbed and later died after a random attack on the Gold Coast in 2019, with two teens jailed over his death.
Known as “Jack’s Law”, the legislation will increase police powers to undertake “wanding” - a search for weapons on members of the public.
A trial of wanding powers on the Gold Coast was highly successful, Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said, with 197 weapons confiscated including machetes and knuckle dusters since the trial began last year.
Jack’s Law will now be expanded to all 15 safe night precincts in the state, and on public transport.
“Queenslanders have the right to feel safe in public,” the Premier said, adding the government believed the new laws would save lives.
Updates
LNP MP Andrew Powell has questioned why the Crime and Corruption Commission has only had up to three commissioners in recent times.
He suggested the CCC needed four commissioners to adopt a report, namely that the CCC was therefore "inquorate".
Attorney-General Shannon Fentiman responded by saying the arrangements of commissioners had not impacted the CCC’s work.
It should be noted the PCCC (the oversight body of the CCC) had discussed this at the public meeting on November 3.
At the time CCC chairperson Bruce Barbour said recruitment processes had been underway and were continuing.
-Jack McKay and Madura McCormack
One Nation MP Stephen Andrew has a question for Energy Minister Mick de Brenni, and wants to know what percentage of renewable energy projects in Queensland will be owned and operated by the state.
With that kind of a layup, no surprise the Minister goes straight into attack rather than answering the question – saying “significantly more would be owned under this government than those opposite”.
“They haven’t seen a publicly owned asset they did not want to flog off – it is in their DNA,” he says.
“All we see from those opposite is talking down the energy plan.”
After a minute and a half of “context”, the Speaker tells Mr de Brenni to come back to the question.
“Our plan is very, very clear – we will maintain 100 per cent ownership of distribution,” he says.
“Our commitment is 100 per cent of transmission. One hundred per cent of deep storage.”
“We have committed to majority public ownership of generation in this state.”
Whoops – told again to answer the question.
“Our commitment is to maintain the level of public ownership.”
– Stephanie Bennett
Health Minister Yvette D’Ath has again hit back against questions about the ABC story.
It came after LNP MP Laura Gerber asked in parliament: “While the health department was giving over $400,000 to a company owned by a close friend for a vaccination clinic in her own electorate, was the minister storing any personal belongings at the complex owned by the same company receiving government money?”
Ms D’Ath responded by acknowledging she had “appropriately” declared she was offered storage by a friend who owns the site where the vaccination clinic ended up being.
But the Minister insisted she had no involvement in the selection of the vaccination site, how it was chosen or any lease arrangements.
“I have followed the proper processes, as has the HHS,” Ms D’Ath said.
Ms D'Ath has previously described the ABC story as defamatory.
Extinction Rebellion have issued a statement confirming its members had “caused mayhem” in parliament.
The anti-coal group confirmed there were ten protestors involved and the banners hung from the public gallery of parliament included some that read “stop coal, stop gas” and “Qld coal burnt anywhere causes climate hell”.
Extinction Rebellion spokesman Dave Tucker said continuing to export fossil fuels “is reckless”.
“Fossil fuels, no matter where they are burnt impacts everyone across the world. We all share the same atmosphere,” he said.
It is expected Speaker Curtis Pitt will address the incident and reiterate the rules of broadcast and the public gallery after Question Time.
Health Minister Yvette D’Ath has launched a vicious attack on the public broadcaster, claiming a story published by ABC News on Wednesday was “highly defamatory” and “based solely on smear and innuendo”.
The news report published on the ABC News website highlighted Ms D’Ath had received a gift, which she declared, of a storage unit from a prominent Redcliffe businesswoman. The businesswoman runs a company that leased out space to Queensland Health to run a vaccination clinic.
The Courier-Mail does not suggest any wrongdoing by the health minister.
Ms D’Ath said the news article was “based solely on smear and innuendo” and “without a shred of evidence”.
She said it was highly defamatory and called for ABC’s management to retract the article.
“(The journalist) alleges a conflict of interest, there is no conflict”.
Ms D’Ath has faced scrutiny in Question Time as a result of the article, with the minister confirming she did disclose her friendship with the businesswoman to her director-general.
She said she disclosed the relationship after the site owned by the business had been picked by Queensland Health.
“I couldn’t have done it beforehand because I had no involvement in the actual choosing of the site or the negotiations that was done at HHS level until it had actually occurred,” Ms D’Ath said.
A second question to the Health Minister, and this time she’s very fired up in response.
The Opposition have said whistleblowers have told them an investigation last year raised issues – and whether the Minister knew about it.
But she’s had enough of being thrown the responsibility of the Mackay issues, saying “the Opposition seems to think you establish 16 statutory bodies but yet they shouldn’t be held responsible”.
You don’t want them held accountable, why did the LNP set them up? They don’t think the board should be held accountable, they don’t think the board should be answerable?,” she said.
“Go meet with a mother who lost a baby.”
ANTI-COAL protesters have infiltrated parliament and are being hauled out by police after they brandished banners and chanted “stop coal, stop gas”.
About a dozen Extinction Rebellion protestors seated in the public gallery section of parliament stood from their chairs and waved banners over the railing chanting “stop coal, stop gas”.
Speaker Curtis Pitt was forced to pause Question Time as authorities ushered the protestors out of the public gallery.
Others in the public gallery who filmed the action were also told to leave the chamber. It is unknown if they were connected to Extinction Rebellion but filming without permission in parliament is not allowed.
Question time has kicked off today, and the Health Minister is the first in the firing line.
Opposition leader David Crisafulli lobs a question to Yvette D’Ath about sacking the Mackay Base Hospital board last week after a damning investigation into the deaths and mistreatment of mums and babies.
“When removing the Mackay board, she said they should have been more aware of the issues. When did the Minister become aware of issues and should the Minister, like the board, been aware?”
Ms D’Ath says the LNP should be “aware of the structure of the Queensland Health system”.
“There are 16 boards and health and hospital services established across Queensland – (that system) was put into place by the LNP.
“I have taken responsibility; I have stood up and apologized for the harm that was caused to these women.
“I have not heard the leader of the opposition pologise for one of these baby deaths occurred while the LNP was in government
“Maybe they consider it old news – I don’t know.”
