Brendan Luxton’s family finally get meeting with Annastacia Palaszczuk

Over two years since requesting a face-to-face meeting with the Premier, the family of Brendan Luxton have finally been granted their wish.

Brendan Luxton suicided after his hotel quarantine ordeal.

The family of Brendan Luxton, a childhood friend of Annastacia Palaszczuk who suicided after a hotel quarantine fiasco in July 2020, has finally met with the Premier – over two years since first requesting a face-to-face meeting.

Mr Luxton’s sister Marita Corbett, who has repeatedly asked Ms Palaszczuk to sit down with her since August 2020, said the December 21 meeting allowed the family “some closure”.

“It’s a shame it took so long because all this hoo-ha could have been avoided,” Mrs Corbett said.

“We made it clear from the outset that we didn’t want to prosecute the past, all we ever wanted was to contribute to the learnings for the future.”

Mr Luxton, 51, suicided on July 17, 2020, the morning after his release from two weeks of mandatory quarantine – following his family’s pleas for an exemption due to his dire mental health being cruelly ignored.

Wednesday’s meeting took place in Ms Palaszczuk’s office and included Mrs Corbett’s husband John and Queensland Health director-general Shaun Drummond.

“The Premier greeted us warmly, and explained the only reason she couldn’t meet us sooner was due to advice,” Mrs Corbett said.

During the 30-minute meeting, the Corbetts called for a comprehensive plan to tackle future health crises, including the use of the latest technology and workflow automation.

When they raised their demand for a full inquiry into the Queensland government’s handling of the pandemic – as revealed in The Sunday Mail on December 11 – Mrs Corbett said this went unaddressed.

“They didn’t acknowledge our words but moved quickly to the Australian Centre for Disease Control (announced by the Federal Government in November), and the Premier instructed Mr Drummond to take a note to get us involved in that,” said Mrs Corbett, the national risk advisory leader for BDO Australia.

When asked if Ms Palaszczuk would be launching an inquiry into her government’s handling of the pandemic, a spokesperson said: “Queensland’s ongoing response to Covid is widely recognised as among the world’s best having vaccinated the majority of its population before the virus arrived.”

The government spokesperson also said the meeting between Ms Palaszczuk and the Corbetts was private and held at the first opportunity following the conclusion of the coroner’s inquiry.

A December 5 coroner’s report into the death of Mr Luxton revealed a litany of errors by Queensland Health, and that an Australian army officer – brought in to assist a struggling quarantine system – claimed she was later urged to say she could not remember what happened.

“She felt pressure from Metro North Public Health Unit to respond to the request for information from the Coroners Court with a suggested response of, I do not recall,” coroner Christine Clements said.

Queensland Health subsequently said it would conduct an internal investigation into the claim.

Originally published as Brendan Luxton’s family finally get meeting with Annastacia Palaszczuk