Cairns MP Rob Pyne quits Labor Party throwing major curve ball to Palaszczuk government
AFTER numerous threats to quit, outspoken MP Rob Pyne has left Labor, throwing a major curve ball at the Palaszczuk Government.
CAIRNS MP Rob Pyne has quit the Labor Party, further weakening the minority Palaszczuk Government’s grip on power.
Mr Pyne said Labor had “lost its way” and he was not prepared to be “muzzled” and “told how to vote by someone in Brisbane”.
He will join fellow Labor MP-turned-independent Billy Gordon on the crossbench.
The resignation gives Labor and the LNP 42 seats each and forces Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk to negotiate with four crossbenchers to pass legislation.
In his resignation letter, obtained by The Courier-Mail, Mr Pyne said “as a member for Cairns, I am no longer prepared to be told how to vote by someone from Brisbane, or be limited in speaking out for my electorate and far north Queensland’’. In the letter addressed to ALP state secretary Evan Moorhead he wrote: “I am about what is in the best interests of Cairns, and Cairns people are telling me they feel both the major parties are not representing them.’’
It is understood Mr Pyne had been considering his decision for months. Tension with his Labor colleagues came to a head in January with a public spat with party leaders after he quit Labor’s Left faction.
At the time he claimed the Government was not doing enough to support his electorate and he threatened to quit then. But a meeting with Ms Palaszczuk and her announcement that Cairns would benefit from an accelerated works program convinced him to stay.
Mr Pyne also said he had lost confidence in the Government on a range of issues including the Adani Carmichael mine, water reform, and a perceived lack of transparency.
Mr Pyne told Fairfax Media his position within the Labor Party was no longer tenable but he had confidence “ in the Premier and the Treasurer and certainly, I would not anticipate this having a drastic impact on the government’s legislative agenda”.
Ms Palaszczuk last night insisted it was business as usual for her Government.
“Nothing will take my focus off creating jobs for Queenslanders,” she tweeted last night.
Opposition Leader Lawrence Springborg seized on Mr Pyne’s resignation.
“The Labor Government still holds power in Queensland but it shows our great state is stifled on a daily basis by an ineffective Government led by Annastacia Palaszczuk,” Mr Springborg said in a statement.
EARLIER: After numerous threats to quit outspoken Cairns MP Rob Pyne has left Labor and created uncertainty for Queensland’s minority government.
Mr Pyne’s resignation from the party comes after he was vocal against the Labor government’s controversial lockout laws and means the government and opposition will both have 42 seats apiece in the state’s 89-seat parliament.
“This decision has been a long time coming,” Mr Pyne told Fairfax Media.
“I decided that I can’t serve two masters, I want to represent the entire Cairns community and I don’t feel I can do that if I am being muzzled or controlled by party machinery being run out of Brisbane.”
Opposition leader Lawrence Springborg said the move “shows the utter depth of internal frustration” with a government “frozen at the wheel”.
“Mr Pyne has acted on what the rest of Queensland has seen for the past year, a Labor government with no plan and no idea what it’s doing,” he said in a statement on Monday night.
Mr Pyne’s position in the government had been under a cloud at the start of the year after he resigned from the left faction and vowed to be a thorn in the side of his own government.
He had demanded his allegations of council corruption finally be taken seriously with an inquiry into local government.
Despite Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk’s assurances, Mr Pyne alluded he “might not be around much longer” in late January.
“If I can’t have some significant influence in delivering for the people of Cairns, in particular, I certainly would consider (quitting Labor),” he told News Corp.
He then backtracked after Treasurer Curtis Pitt reaffirmed a commitment to tackle high youth unemployment in Cairns.
More than a month later, he has resigned.
Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has responded to Mr Pyne’s resignation by insisting it is still business as usual for her government.
“Business as usual for the Government. Nothing will take my focus off creating jobs for Queenslanders,” she tweeted last night.
Opposition Leader Lawrence Springborg seized on Mr Pyne’s resignation last night.
“The Labor Government still holds power in Queensland but it shows our great state is stifled on a daily basis by an ineffective Government lead by Annastacia Palaszczuk.” Mr Springborg said in a statement.
“If anything this decision by Rob Pyne shows the ineffective Palaszczuk Labor Government has become even more unstable.
“Queenslanders didn’t vote for a Government sitting on its hands doing nothing, not creating jobs and an imposing an infrastructure freeze.
“Mr Pyne has acted on what the rest of Queensland has seen for the past year, a Labor Government with no plan and no idea what it’s doing.”
– AAP, Sarah Vogler
Originally published as Cairns MP Rob Pyne quits Labor Party throwing major curve ball to Palaszczuk government
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