A purported former bikie was hired by a Queensland government agency to provide motivational coaching to public servants within 12 months of being jailed for a violent one-punch attack.
A purported former bikie was hired by a Queensland government agency to provide motivational coaching to public servants within 12 months of being jailed for a violent one-punch attack.
Deputy Opposition Leader Jarrod Bleijie revealed on Thursday during a fiery estimates hearing at parliament Mathew David Kratiuk had given a presentation to WorkCover Queensland staff.
Mr Kratiuk was sentenced to a term of imprisonment on July 25, 2022, after pleading guilty to assault occasioning bodily harm while intoxicated in Brisbane's Fortitude Valley.
At the time, Magistrate Suzette Coates sentenced Mr Kratiuk to 12 months’ jail with a parole release date of August 24.
Before being convicted, Mr Kratiuk was reported to have left his criminal past behind to become a Vinnies CEO Sleepout ambassador and Cliqued Digital chief executive.
Under interrogation from the Opposition, WorkCover Queensland acting chief executive David Heley was unable to reveal details about the fee charged for the motivational session.
But a WorkCover spokesperson later revealed the government agency did not pay Mr Kratiuk for the presentation.
Instead, a donation of $1000 was made in exchange for the service to a charity Mr Kratiuk's choosing.
“The individual concerned, who is a Vinnies CEO Sleepout Ambassador, was invited to present at an optional staff engagement,” the spokesperson said.
“He was introduced to WorkCover Queensland by a coaching and performance organisation.
“Following the presentation, WorkCover made a small, direct charitable donation to St Vincent De Paul Queensland’s charity event supporting homeless people across the country.
“WorkCover was unaware of the court matters raised today and does not condone harmful behaviour of any kind.”
Industrial Relations Minister Grace Grace, who was the relevant minister during the estimates hearing, told reporters she was unaware of the details of Mr Kratiuk being hired to speak with government employees.
“I am not privy to every single person who works at WorkCover Queensland but obviously I’ll obtain information and provide whatever I can as soon as possible,” she said.
“But, look, I only know what was said in estimates today so it’s very difficult for me to speculate on somebody.”
Mr Kratiuk was sentenced to prison last year after he punched a man after being evicted from a nightclub in Fortitude Valley in the early hours of a March morning.
The victim was admitted to hospital for four days, suffering a frontal contusion and a small subarachnoid haemorrhage.
Following the hearing, Mr Bleijie said “only amongst the chaos and crisis of the Palaszczuk government would they ever think it was a good idea to hire a convicted criminal and former bikie to motivate staff”.
Recap our day-long live estimates coverage below
Day three of budget estimates has ended. Indeed it ended about an hour ago but the nature of newspaper deadlines means time is both a construct and a concrete wall late in the afternoon.
Join us again tomorrow for another estimates sessions, with everyone's favourite portfolio Health.
Environment will follow in the afternoon.
About 500 children are held in watch houses across the state each month, with Youth Justice Minister Di Farmer grilled by the LNP on why this is considering in 2019 she made clear she didn't want children in watch houses.
Ms Farmer, stating the obvious, noted that more children were being charged and locked up under the state govenrment's recent law changes.
"We have seen an increasing number of young people going to detention all of those young people will go through a watchhouse," she said.
Queensland's youth detention system will have a revamped website in the next few weeks providing better transparency and accountability around the treatment of children in prison Director-General Bob Gee has said.
He confirmed he had made the independent decision, in light of a Queensland Ombudsman report from 2022, to tighten the policies at youth detention centres on recording data.
Mr Gee, who often referred to page numbers of budget documents and other data from memory, said there had been 4170 incidents across the state's youth detention centres last financial year.
A quarter of those were due to staff shortages he said.
A youth crime victim from Toowoomba has joined the state government’s Youth Justice Strategy Reference Group.
Ken Cunliffe will work alongside peak industry bodies, education providers, health and mental health service providers and academics in steering youth justice reforms.
The state government said the addition of a victim representative will be a valuable asset for the reference group, which provides ongoing advice about youth justice strategy.
A total of 402 young offenders have been charged with 1681 counts of breach of bail since the laws were brought in earlier this year.
That’s an average of 4.2 breach of bails per unique child offender.
The site of a new youth detention centre in Cairns is yet to be decided, with Youth Justice Minister Di Farmer and her Director-General Bob Gee shutting down suggestions it would be at Edmonton.
The state government is planning to build two new detention centres, one in Cairns and one in the southeast.
One will be located at Woodford but the one up North is yet to be finalised.
Ms Farmer confirmed there was money in the budget for planning and design purposes and to construct the 80 bed facility at Woodford but exact costs could not yet be disclosed amid negotiations with potential contractors.
Mr Gee said no advice had been given to the Minister yet about final locations for the facility in Cairns, though he planned to do so as soon as he had information coming from a validation report and other pieces.
Both are expected to be opened in 2026
Students at a heritage-listed primary school will be moved nearly 2km away to make way for the demolition and rebuild of the Gabba stadium as part of the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games
Education Minister Grace Grace confirmed the relocation of East Brisbane State School on day three of budget estimates.
It had been announced earlier this year the school would not be able to remain at its current location beyond the end of 2025 due to the Gabba rebuild.
“Following school and community consultation today I can announce (the) school will be relocated as a standalone primary school on the nearby Coorparoo Secondary College site,” Ms Grace said.
“The underutilised 11 hectare site is a short distance away and has extensive green space.”
Training Minister Di Farmer has faced questions about a "lost generation" of tradies after the LNP spruiked new data revealing more prospective workers have dropped out of training than have completed it in the past five years.
A recent report from the National Centre of Vocational Education Research found more than 55,000 Queensland trainees had dropped out of trade training programs – such as construction, automotive and engineering – since 2018.
In contrast, about 46,000 completed their training – about 8500 less.
Ms Farmer said the issue was "an absolute focus for me as a minister and in my portfolio", noting there had been an increase in completion rates over the past two years.
"I asked the Queensland Training ombudsman to undertake a review last year to look at what the barriers are for apprentices and with particular focus on female apprentices," she said.
LNP training spokesman Brent Mickleberg also pressed Ms Farmer on a new "Train and Retain" initiative in March this year, noting the Beattie government had also spruiked a "Train to Retain" program more than 15 years ago.
Ms Farmer said the decision to name the program "Train and Retain" was "because that quite simply is what we are aiming at doing".
– Stephanie Bennett
Dr Rowan is now asking for a breakdown of how many kids were suspended due to vaping. While close to 8000 kids were suspended for "drug-related use" including tobacco and vaping, Mr De'Ath has admitted the department doesn't know the breakdown of how many were actually related to vaping.
He said it was "complex in terms of things being measured together".
– Stephanie Bennett
Mr De'Ath is now being asked about Queensland's students failing to meet the national minimum standards on things such as reading and writing.
He says the department was "committed to improvement", and says performance "held" last year despite three years of interruptions due to Covid.
He said NAPLAN targets were set against the "now-defunct" national minimum standards.
"There are noted concerns that the department will no longer report on student outcomes – that is incorrect, can I make that clear", he said.
-Stephanie Bennett
The LNP state government is refusing to reveal how it will fend off the federal Coalition’s nuclear plans.
Queensland MPs have ramped up funding calls for the Bruce Highway ahead of the federal election following a horror year in which 41 people were killed on the road.