George St Beat: Curtis Pitt and the case of the missing videos
As embattled Speaker Curtis Pitt got back in the chair this week, the coincidence of some missing Question Time footage set our sceptical tentacles tingling.
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Embattled Speaker Curtis Pitt was back in the big chair this week, but for a hot minute it seemed someone had thought to hide the drama that surrounded his exit in the first place.
A trawl of the Question Time stream uncovered footage of five of this year’s 25 sitting days were missing – two of which included the widely publicised sessions when Mr Pitt was accused of slurring his speech.
The first was May’s regional sitting in Cairns, which was the trigger for Mr Pitt to go on leave citing mental health challenges.
The second was during the week of the June state budget, when the Speaker arrived in the chamber with seconds to spare and slurred his speech through the morning before returning to personal leave.
Mr Pitt has maintained he does not have an alcohol problem and his slurred speech and drowsiness was caused by strong pain medication.
He has since had back surgery and this week returned to duty at the helm of the chamber.
The coincidence of the particular missing videos set our sceptical tentacles tingling, but we were assured a “technical issue” was the cause rather than a nefarious scrub of the record books.
After being alerted to the missing links by GSB, parliament has restored the full catalogue of sitting weeks so all you political tragics out there can binge away.
DICK’S JETSETTING WORLD
Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has spent a few weeks overseas this year for pleasure, but there’s another high-ranking government MP whose jetsetting lifestyle might eclipse hers.
But it’s much less an Italian sojourn and more work-focused trade missions for Treasurer Cameron Dick, who on Thursday jetted off on his fourth official trip for the year – and the eighth since April last year.
This time he’s headed to Japan, then Denmark and Germany to “explore new export opportunities and to strengthen existing relationships and agreements”.
The trip will certainly add to the overseas travel bill incurred by the Treasurer’s office – which in 2022-23 was the largest of any minister at $238,632.
He is expected to be back in Australia by September 23 – which will bring his total overseas days since 2022 to a whopping 60.
Based on how stacked his days have been during previous trade missions (based on publicly released reports), he’ll probably have a legitimate excuse for not reading in full any 576-word election manifestos written by his colleagues.
RISING STAR RULED OUT
Much of the political discourse of late in the Sunshine State has focused on the three-way tussle to replace the Premier.
But on the other side of the chamber, LNP rising star Sam O’Connor was ruled out of ever ascending to become party leader due to his “crazy leftwing stuff”.
The 32-year-old Gold Coast-based MP is on the progressive extremes of the conservative party, given his environmental advocacy and vocal support of the Yes campaign ahead of the Voice to Parliament referendum.
Former party leader John-Paul Langbroek playfully featured O’Connor and Deb Frecklington – another former leader – in an Instagram story strolling into Question Time on Thursday.
“Well viewers, today we have an interesting visitor: the 36th leader of the opposition in Queensland,” Langbroek says of Frecklington.
“I of course am the 33rd and Sam … unfortunately because of his crazy leftwing stuff, will probably never be.”
THE MUSIC MAN
Parliament is always a bit of theatre and this week we saw some of the musical variety, when the house’s biggest music fan, LNP deputy leader Jarrod Bleijie, used one of trademark sprays to run through his “playlist” for the other side.
For the record, he labelled the “leaked” Labor album “chaos and crisis” (where have we heard that before?), before running through the “greatest hits” of some of his rivals.
Deputy Premier Steven Miles’ song was touted as Queen’s I Want to Break Free, Health Minister Shannon Fentiman was given Split Enz’s Six Months in a Leaky Boat, and Transport Minister Mark Bailey was lumped with Shannon Noll’s What About Me.
But it was Mr Dick who was given the biggest sledge, with Bleijie saying: “Whose song would that be? Who has requested that? It is (the Treasurer’s) – a guy so arrogant that he looks down on people and polishes the chandeliers with his nose. That is how arrogant that man is. You’re so Vain, Cameron Dick.”
VALE JOHN MCDONALD
And sad news this week to hear of the passing of NRL legend John “Cracker” McDonald. The inaugural Maroons coach is the father of Lockyer MP Jim McDonald, a gentlemen of the parliament who was rightly feted by his colleagues this week for his advocacy in getting Sophie’s Law passed through the house. Thoughts are with the McDonald family.
Originally published as George St Beat: Curtis Pitt and the case of the missing videos
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