Blog: Trad taunted 'do right thing' and resign
The boss of the state's CFMEU has done something he's never done before: demand the resignation of a minister. But he says Treasurer Jackie Trad has lost the support of the community.
Hundreds of construction workers have stormed Parliament House demanding Treasurer Jackie Trad resign and the Cross River Rail delivery authority be scrapped.
It comes as Ms Trad faced a grilling during a fiery parliamentary Question Time this morning over the government's integrity crisis with MPs asking why she won't 'do the right thing by Queenslanders' and resign.
CFMEU state secretary Michael Ravbar - among those storming Parliament House - said Ms Trad and the authority were not up to the task of managing the $5.4 billion rail project from Dutton Park to Bowen Hills.
It is the strongest the union has come out against Ms Trad.
“Right now we have more energy and political capital being spent on Jackie Trad’s $700,000 investment property than we do on the largest infrastructure project in Queensland,” he said.
“She is no friend of the worker. The Labor Government should do the right thing.”
Mr Ravbar said that Government inaction would see the CFMEU protesting up until the October 2020 election.
He said he’d never called for a politician to resign before.
Mr Ravbar said the call was due to the cumulative issues of Cross River Rail mismanagement, people “feathering their own nests with properties” and insensitive comments about miners.
In February, the Treasurer said miners should re-skill amid a backlash against coal.
“She tried to say she wasn’t thinking, but that’s bull****," Mr Ravbar said.
"The thing about Trad is that she’s a very tough lady, and I respect that, but she knows what she says and does,” Mr Ravbar said.
“There’s no doubt that Trad is not well liked out there in the community.”
At this stage, the CFMEU will not consider leveraging political donations to Labor to force Trad’s resignation.
“I still think people like (Premier Annastacia) Palaszczuk, to be honest with you," Mr Ravbar said.
"My members still think she is a nice lady, which is unusual for someone in politics to be seen as nice.
“But some of her ministers just need to lift their game.
"It’s only second term too. Wouldn’t you be working 10 times harder to get re-elected?"
ETU state secretary Peter Ong said the ALP had lost it way.
“We don’t expect to have to protest in front of an ALP party,”
“So for us to be out here protesting it must be really bad.”
During Question Time grilling Ms Trad said she has made her position abundantly clear about if she would resign.
"I have always endeavored to do the right thing," she said.
"I will ensure that I abide by the rules and if there is an investigation that follows the assessment by the CCC I will do what is right.
"I will refer those (opposite) to the long list of issues that the Premier put on the table in relation to those opposite's track record when in government."
SEE HOW IT UNFOLDED IN THE LIVE BLOG BELOW
Ms Trad went on to slam the LNP over its "diamond membership", which ensures property developers can still be part of the LNP amid Labor's donation ban.
It comes after the Palaszczuk Government faced a fresh integrity crisis when the Courier-Mail this morning revealed Keppel MP Brittany Lauga only declared an overnight stay from March at the private residence of a businessman behind a major tourism development in her electorate on July 30.
The MP last night said she declared the hospitality as soon as she realised it was not covered in the cost of the trip.
Meanwhile Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk will report back today on whether her deputy Jackie Trad breached the Parliament’s own rule book by not declaring her Woolloongabba investment property to ministerial colleagues.
The Premier couldn't answer the Opposition's left-field question yesterday about whether Ms Trad had complied with standing orders in her dealing with minister and public servants.
Follow all the action from Queensland Parliament today in our live blog.
Originally published as Blog: Trad taunted 'do right thing' and resign
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