Queensland election 2017: Rolling coverage of the election campaign

PREMIER Annastacia Palaszczuk denied she defied the integrity commissioner, despite making a decision to veto the $1 billion Adani rail loan against her recommendation.

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk during a press conference at Oxenford on the Gold Coast. Picture: AAP Image/Darren England

PREMIER Annastacia Palaszczuk denied she defied the integrity commissioner, despite making a decision to veto the $1 billion Adani rail loan against her recommendation.

In a fiery press conference she defended her ruling, admitted she did not speak to the integrity commissioner about the veto and said she was “sick and tired” of people saying she did not make decisions.

She has been forced to deal with fallout from her shock decision since Friday, made when it was revealed her partner Shaun Drabsch worked with Pricewaterhouse Coopers on Adani’s loan application to the Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility.

The integrity commissioner’s advice explicitly states she should exclude herself from all cabinet “deliberations or decision making” on NAIF and that this was “best practice with respect to managing integrity issues”.

Despite this, the Premier announced on Friday her decision to veto the loan, on the back of the commissioner’s advice and what she called an “LNP smear campaign”.

Yesterday she insisted she kept to the advice because she made the decision without cabinet meeting.

She also said she did not speak to the commissioner, Dr Nikola Stepanov, about her decision to veto the loan and did not believe she had to despite her partner’s involvement.

“Cabinet has not met... I made the decision,” she said.

“I am the Premier of this state, I make decisions. I’ve been sick and tired of people saying you don’t make decisions. I have made a decision. I make decisions every single day.”

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk during a press conference at Oxenford on the Gold Coast. Picture: AAP Image/Darren England

Under the NAIF rules, a state can only veto a loan through Cabinet when it reaches stage 4 of the deliberation process, while Adani’s proposal has only passed stage 2.

Despite using the integrity commissioner’s advice to announce the veto on Friday, Ms Palaszczuk today said the veto was keeping a 2015 election commitment that no taxpayer money would go to Adani.

“In relation to the loan, in relation to Adani, I’ve made it very clear that our previous commitment was that not one single dollar of taxpayers’ money will go towards that project and I stand by my commitment. Therefore we have put in place a veto,” she said.

“I will draft that letter on the Premier’s letterhead and if I am re-elected on the first day of being re-elected I will send that letter to Malcolm Turnbull.”

But her Treasurer Curtis Pitt has previously defended the loan as still being within the commitment, saying the State Government only played a constitutional and administrative loan.

Ms Palaszczuk today said: “I never said that”.

She said she would excuse herself from any future cabinet deliberations on the NAIF, to avoid conflict with her partner’s work, but would not veto all PwC applications like she did with Adani.

“In future when it gets to stage three and stage four I will exclude myself from any deliberations,” she said.

Ms Palaszczuk said she was unaware the Mr Drabsch with had also worked on a business case for the Gold Coast Light Rail and development of the Rookwood Weir, but would look into it.

Mr Drabsch’s CV, available on the Internet, states he has “drafted a strategic business case for the Gold Coast Light Rail stage 3” and “advised commercial options for (Rockhampton Regional Council) to participate in the development of the Rookwood Weir”.

Ms Palaszczuk said Mr Drabsch was upset by what had happened.

NICHOLLS NON-COMMITTAL ON ONE NATION PREFERENCES

TIM Nicholls says both candidate personalities and party policies will affect how the LNP will preference One Nation in different seats across the state.

Decisions on how the LNP will preference One Nation won’t be made until the date for nominations closes on Tuesday and local branches have been sought for feedback.

Mr Nicholls said decisions would be reached through consultations with their own local candidates and no one factor would be more important than others.

Queensland LNP leader Tim Nicholls says both candidate personalities and party policies will affect how the LNP will preference One Nation in different seats across the state. Picture: AAP Image/Regi Varghese

“Once we’ve made those decisions, I’m sure you good folk will find out about it,” he said.

“Our decision making will be based on the advice we receive back from the candidates and the MPs in those seats and what the nominees and the other people who are in those contests are promoting in those seats and we’ll take all of that into account when we make those decisions.

“So there’s no one criteria.”

Mr Nicholls, who was campaigning in the marginal LNP electorate of Glass House, was asked how he believed the One Nation candidate Tracey Bell-Henselin should be preferenced after she announced a controversial domestic violence policy that would not preclude men from visitation rights just because the mother held a domestic violence order against them.

He said he would speak to Glass House MP Andrew Powell about that.

“I’ve already said many of their policies are loopy, like giving GST to Western Australia, their loopy policies on vaccinations,” he said.

Glass House MP Andrew Powell said candidates weren’t necessarily locked in yet and he was still waiting for that deadline.

Mr Nicholls said decisions would be announced before pre-polling began in eight days.

PREMIER UNVEILS COMM GAMES MEDALS AS CAMPAIGN GOES SOUTH

PREMIER Annastacia Palaszczuk has moved her campaign to the Gold Coast, where she has revealed the medal designs for the 2018 Commonwealth Games.

After attending a charity fundraiser organised by Games body GOLDOC last night, she unveiled the indigenous design medals this morning at the Star Casino with LNP Surfers Paradise MP John-Paul Langbroek and Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games chairman Peter Beattie.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk, pictured with World Champion boxer Jeff Horn, has moved her campaign to the Gold Coast. Picture: Adam Head

There will be 1500 of the medals produced by the Royal Australian Mint in Canberra.

Ms Palaszczuk said the Queensland indigenous artist behind the medals, Delvene Cockatoo-Collins, captured the essence of the Gold Coast in her design.

Ms Cockatoo-Collins said she depicted the coastline in her work.

The design of the Commonwealth Games medals has been revealed.

“When the tide comes in and tide leaves it leaves behind patterns in the sand. When the athletes are here for two weeks they’re going to see more than a dozen different tide lines if they chose to walk on our beaches,” she said.

Originally published as Queensland election 2017: Rolling coverage of the election campaign