Attorney-General Shannon Fentiman is introducing the anti-vilification and hate crime laws right this second.
Members of Queensland’s multicultural community are in the public gallery to witness this.
It is expected Ms Fentiman will hold a press conference this afternoon about the new laws.
We are also expecting Jack’s Law to be debated this week, potentially starting later today.
Question time blog: Qld government to buy up hundreds of homes
Hundreds of affordable homes on the verge of falling off a federal-funded scheme are concentrated in inner-city Brisbane suburbs including Fortitude Valley, Bowen Hills and Nundah, new data has confirmed.
Hundreds of affordable homes on the verge of falling off a federal-funded scheme are concentrated in inner-city Brisbane suburbs including Fortitude Valley, Bowen Hills and Nundah, new data has confirmed.
It comes as Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk revealed the government would use returns from their $2bn Housing Investment Fund to secure new homes in Townsville and southeast Queensland.
Federal government data on the National Rental Affordability Scheme revealed renters in Bowen Hills, Birtinya, North Lakes and Pimpama would be among the worst impacted in 2023 as properties fall off the expiring scheme.
Thousands more properties will be removed from the scheme next year, particularly in Fortitude Valley, North Lakes, South Brisbane, Nundah and Mountain Creek.
The state government doubled the value of the Housing Investment Fund at last year's housing summit, which was convened in response to The Courier-Mail's Hitting Home series.
Ms Palaszczuk said the fund would support community housing provider, National Affordable Housing, to investigate the purchase of up to 335 properties that have elected to sell once NRAS ends.
About 5000 properties in Queensland are due to come off the federal government’s NRAS scheme when it ends in 2026.
“Where the Commonwealth Government has stepped out of the housing sector, our government will step in,” Ms Palaszczuk said.
“The clear message from yesterday’s roundtable was that the Commonwealth needs to be doing more to provide essential housing.”
The Premier confirmed 50 homes were already under contract, and that the government expects up to 100 properties to be purchased in the second half of 2023.
“Those properties include a mix of detached housing, townhouses, duplexes and apartments,” Ms Palaszczuk said.
“The impending closure of the National Rental Affordability Scheme means now is the time to act.
“By purchasing these homes, we can provide peace of mind for existing residents and homes for households from the social housing register where properties are vacant.”
Updates
Coming up for the rest of today
Punted!
Speaker Curtis Pitt has been handing out warnings to MPs throughout Question Time like icy poles at a construction site on a hot summer day.
But Ninderry MP Dan Purdie (LNP) is the first to be punted from the chamber for an hour.
How will AUKUS submarines help Queensland?
Katter’s Australian Party leader Robbie Katter asked about the AUKUS pact recently announced by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese with his US and British counterparts.
He questioned Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk as to how the Sunshine State could benefit from the deal through the use of Queensland uranium.
“Let me make it very clear that my government does not support uranium mining,” Ms Palaszczuk said in response.
In the middle of the answer, Cameron Dick made an interjection – prompting manager of opposition business Andrew Powell to dob Mr Dick into Speaker Curtis Pitt because the Treasurer was already on a warning.
Mr Dick was subsequently asked to leave the chamber.
– Jack McKay
'Nodding donkey' remark haunts Opposition
A remark about passive politicians being “nodding donkeys” by Opposition Leader David Crisafulli has arguably hurt the LNP this week.
Mr Crisafulli, in announcing a trio of female LNP candidates for the 2024 state election, said voters wouldn’t “see a candidate who stands behind the leader like a nodding donkey, I want someone who fights for the area and is a strong voice”.
The state government took that comment and ran with me, accusing Mr Crisafulli of referring to Labor Redlands MP Kim Richards as a “nodding donkey”—drawing that bow because he had just been speaking about his candidate for the area Rebecca Young.
The Opposition through Tuesday had batted away the suggestion, pointing to the wider context of the quote.
But on Wednesday Attorney-General Shannon Fentiman produced quotes from Mr Crisafulli dating to November 2021, when he referred to another Labor MP as a “nodding donkey”.
“What the member for Mackay could do right now is stand up and demand a voice because those patients are looking for someone with a bit of ticker. They are not looking for a nodding donkey, somebody to run excuses,” he said at the time.
“They are looking for somebody to stand up in Mackay and have a crack. They are running out of patience with the member for Mackay because they are seeing a lot of nodding heads, not a lot of leadership”.
Gladstone maternity bypass: What's happening to Minister Butcher
Nanango MP Deb Frecklington sticks to health but wants to ask the Premier about the future of Gladstone MP and Water Minister Glenn Butcher, after the latter said he would resign unless maternity services were returned.
Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk says "the Member for Nanago is going nowhere", saying she has been advised there is a multiple stage process of getting services back.
She says national issues have been ongoing, and the HHS is working on the third and final stage.
– Stephanie Bennett
Maternity bypass
The government’s maternity crisis has surfaced as an alarming issue across the state following reporting from The Sunday Mail.
In a recent reply to a Question on Notice, Health Minister Yvette D’Ath said she was unable to reveal how many maternity services across the state were on bypass due to the extensive work needed to figure this out.
Opposition MP Amanda Camm rose to query this rejection, asking Ms D’Ath how the Minister is able to approve further bypasses without knowing which areas had maternity support up and running.
Ms D’Ath didn’t directly answer the question but admitted the maternity crisis was a “serious issue”.
“We are working hard to try to attract and retain Obstetricians and Gynecologists as well as nurses and midwives across the state so that we can ensure that we can maintain the level of services that these communities have,” she said.
“I have said time and time again, these services will come on when it is safe to do so based on the clinical advice.
“We must ensure that we have adequate staff and we can sustain those staff so that we don't have these services coming on and off bypass.”
– James Hall
Allegations of copied homework on land tax concessions
Former Opposition Leader Deb Frecklington has brandished figurative receipts showing it was the LNP that first promised tax concessions to unlock Queensland's build-to-rent industry.
During the 2020 election the LNP committed to cutting land tax by up to 75 per cent on land tax among other concessions for foreign investors in a bid to get more developers in the fledgling build-to-rent industry.
Ms Frecklington at the time estimated the movecould attract about $2 billion in private investment, create 4600 construction jobs and result in 4000 homes built in a decade.
Ahh @camerondickqld handing in the LNPs homework once again – last week breach of bail, this week Build to Rent, wonder which one @QLDLabor will pick next week! 🤔 https://t.co/cSo83MG78A
— Deb Frecklington MP (@DebFrecklington) March 29, 2023
'Check the facts': Premier calls for fact checkers amid Opposition questioning
Deputy LNP leader Jarrod Bleijie has kicked off his question by saying the Opposition had received data that showed some patients were waiting 10, 11 or 12 hours at emergency departments.
He questioned Annastacia Palaszczuk how a 12 hour wait at the ED was keeping Queenslanders safe – a reference to the Premier’s pledge during the 2020 election to keep the state safe from Covid.
“I will ask the Health Minister to clarify whether those figures are true,” Ms Palaszczuk said – which was met with rowdy interjections from the Opposition benches.
“We will check the facts there.
“I will not be lectured in this house by the Member for Kawana (Jarrod Bleijie).”
– Jack McKay
Health issues: Wait times at emergency departments
Shadow spokeswoman for health Ros Bates cited data released this week revealing the number of patients waiting longer than 24 hours at emergency departments doubled before the state was ravaged with Covid-19.
She said the figure has soared more than 220 per cent since 2015.
In response, the Premier referred to the health performance data that showed more than 70 per cent of emergency department patients were treated within recommended times.
Ms Palaszczuk also cited the increase to the ambulance workforce, before (again) launching into the old line about the LNP cutting frontline services and public service employees, which of course dates back to the Newman government from 2012-2015.
– James Hall
Health issues: Surgery wait times
Question Time has kicked off today, and Opposition Leader David Crisafulli is going for the health jugular to start.
He says that new data shows the number of patients waiting longer than clinically recommended for a specialist has jumped from about 104,000 last July to more than 122,000 in January.
“Can the Premier explain the reason for the 18 per cent blowout in just six months?” he asks.
Ms Palaszczuk says she is happy to talk about the achievements in health the government has made, and goes on a spiel about the investment the government has made.
The Premier says that’s why the government is working with the feds to get people out of hospital who shouldn’t be there, such as those who required aged care places.
Mr Crisafulli’s second question is also on the issue – saying the government pledged to get the number down to less than 40,000 – but since 2017 it has increased almost every year.
“It’s as if the Leader of the Opposition didn’t even realise Covid happened in our state for three years,” she says.
“As we know there have been incredible pressure on our hospitals – there has been something called Covid which those opposite want to bury their heads in the sand on and pretend it never existed.”
Ms Palaszczuk pulls out the regular Newman line, and says they have spent years restoring services cut during the LNP’s time.
“Queenslanders have a long memory and they don’t forget,” she says
“It is not a joking matter when they cut frontline services – they should be ashamed of the way they behave in this house and they behave in public.”
– Stephanie Bennett
Read related topics:QLD housing crisis
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