Qld politics: Speaker Curtis Pitt misses hometown parliament

Speaker Curtis Pitt is again absent from parliament in Cairns due to illness, a day after he was late for the historic sitting in his home city, saying it was because he fell ill and slept through his alarm.

Speaker of the House and Member for Mulgrave Curtis Pitt appears unwell during the regional sitting of Queensland parliament at the Cairns Convention Centre. Picture: Brendan Radke

Queensland Speaker Curtis Pitt was again absent from parliament on Wednesday morning after he slept through his alarm on the previous day citing illness.

He told The Courier-Mail on Tuesday evening his illness would likely mean he would miss today’s sitting, and a parliamentary official on Wednesday confirmed the Speaker remained unwell.

His deputy, Joe Kelly, has again assumed the role of Speaker.

Mr Pitt was missing at the opening day of the extraordinary parliamentary session in his home town of Cairns on Tuesday morning before showing up about half an hour late during Question Time.

His delayed appearance at parliament meant his deputy Joe Kelly had to take up the Speaker’s chair and start proceedings. Mr Kelly has again assumed the role of Speaker for Wednesday’s proceedings.

Mr Pitt made no mention of why he was late on Tuesday or where he had been as he took charge over the running of the regional sitting of parliament.

He left after Question Time.

Multiple sources have confirmed Mr Pitt was on Monday night at Villa Romana, a “breezy beachfront all-day Italian cafe” inside the Mantra Trilogy hotel, one of three Cairns CBD hotels where MPs and staff are staying during the week-long sitting.

Curtis Pitt was seen at Villa Romana on Monday night.

Mr Pitt said he attended government events on Monday night where he had “a couple of drinks” – but he insisted he was not affected by alcohol when he turned up to parliament late on Tuesday.

“I will say that I did attend a government event last night and yes I had … a couple of drinks like everyone else did,” he said.

“I was late to parliament as a result of being unwell and unfortunately sleeping through an alarm. And as soon as I could get to parliament, I did and I wanted to ensure I was doing the Cairns parliament question time despite still being unwell.”

Mr Pitt said he was absent from parliament for the remainder of the day to sleep and promised to provide an update to MPs when parliament resumed on Wednesday.

He said he hoped to be back at parliament, but pointed out on Tuesday night that he was still not feeling well.

The Courier-Mail understands the morning’s Welcome to Country was delayed for about 20 minutes as politicians and media waited for the Speaker to arrive – but he didn’t show up.

“Anyone who knows me knows how important First Nations issues are to me and how critically I always want to acknowledge country,” Mr Pitt said on Tuesday night.

“I’m devastated to have missed it, particularly given I know how much work and effort my office and others had put into organising the event.”

Mr Pitt said as soon as he woke up, he informed his office that he was running late – but was unable to do that before the Welcome to Country ceremony as he was still asleep.

It is understood Mr Pitt is staying at a Cairns hotel.

Parliamentary rules means he is eligible to do so just like other MPs. The travel distance between his electorate office and the Cairns Convention Centre, where the regional parliament is being held, is a roughly 23km drive.

Queensland’s official Hansard record offers no official explanation for the missing Speaker, only recording that the clerk of parliament Neil Laurie informed the house Mr Pitt was absent.

While Mr Pitt wasn’t in the chamber during all of the ministerial statements, he still presided over Question Time.

Speaker of the House and Member for Mulgrave Curtis Pitt appears unwell during the regional sitting of Queensland parliament at the Cairns Convention Centre. Picture: Brendan Radke

“I want to spend as much time in the Speaker’s chair as I can given the parliament is in Cairns – but I just don’t think it’s good to do that if you’re not well,” Mr Pitt said on Tuesday night.

More than 2500 students are expected to attend the regional sitting of Cairns throughout the week, while a special night time session of Question Time will take place on Wednesday night.

Mr Pitt encouraged Cairns locals to watch parliament while it was being hosted in their region.

“When this happens once in a blue moon basically, it’s that opportunity for people to see what happens in Brisbane all the time,” the Speaker said.

The last time a regional parliament was convened was in Townsville in 2019, while it has been held in Cairns before in 2008.

Mr Pitt confirmed the Speaker’s chair from the Parliament House’s green chamber as well as the president’s desk from the red chamber had been shipped from Brisbane to Cairns for the rare sitting in the regions.

It can be revealed Mr Pitt was about 25 minutes late to a session of Queensland’s Youth parliament on the evening of April 15.

Footage from the night shows him taking to the lectern and apologising to the audience of high school students and other young people for “the fact that I’m a bit late”.

“I’ve been on a personal phone call which I was unable to not be on, so I appreciate your graciousness,” he said.