‘Cynical fence-sitting’: LNP MPs fail to take position on the Indigenous voice to parliament
G’day readers, and welcome to this week’s Feeding the Chooks, your weekly peek behind the scenes of Queensland politics. Reported by Michael McKenna, Sarah Elks, and Lydia Lynch.
LNP not so chatty on the voice
Queensland Labor Attorney-General Shannon Fentiman didn’t mince words this week when she castigated Opposition leader David Crisafulli for keeping an “open mind” on the Indigenous voice to parliament.
“What is the Leader of the Opposition waiting for? For him it is simple. It is not about being on the right side of history; it is cynical political fence sitting,” Fentiman told parliament.
“It is what he always does. He did not tell Queenslanders where he would stand on voluntary assisted dying. He did not tell Queenslanders where he would stand on abortion. He still will not say where he stands on quotas to get women finally into parliament.”
“Now he refuses to say where he will stand on the Voice. How does he hope to lead Queensland if he will not be honest with Queenslanders? True leaders take a stand and it is about time the Leader of the Opposition did.”
As Chooks reported recently, Crisafulli has said he’s still got an “open mind” about the voice, was weighing his position, and generally doesn’t “go off half-cocked on things”.
So where does the Opposition stand on the voice? Chooks called every LNP MP this week, to ask how they intend to vote at the referendum on the Indigenous voice to parliament.
Of the 34 LNP MPs, only Sam O’Connor – the MP for the Gold Coast seat of Bonney – has definitively said he’s voting yes. His Gold Coast-based near-neighbour, Southport MP Rob Molhoek, is “leaning towards yes, but I’m still wrestling with it”.
O’Connor says he supports constitutional recognition, and says the voice is “a simple but powerful way to deliver better outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people”.
Seven MPs didn’t get back to Chooks (how rude!), seven have said they’ll vote no (James Lister, Dan Purdie, Andrew Powell, Lachlan Millar, Fiona Simpson, Bryson Head and Michael Hart), and the rest (19) are unsure.
Former LNP leader Tim Nicholls, who represents the affluent inner-north seat of Clayfield, was less than chatty when Chooks called to ask how he intended to vote.
“I am declining to answer,” he said. Why, Chooks asked? “I am declining to answer that question as well.”
Warrego’s Ann Leahy reckons she hasn’t “turned my mind to it,” while Burnett’s Stephen Bennett says he hopes the ‘yes’ campaign can “articulate a message”.
“The acknowledgment of First Nations people as part of the Constitution is overdue. But is this the right model, or does it come with unacceptable risks?” Bennett mused.
Surfers Paradise MP John-Paul Langbroek (currently in Taiwan with a bipartisan delegation of QLD MPs) says he’s read the Calma-Langton report and is “waiting for more information and details to be provided”.
Condamine MP Pat Weir says he’s confused about how the voice is going to work and says it “really bugs me that if you question anything (about the voice) then you’re branded a racist or a bigot”.
Nanango MP Deb Frecklington, also a former LNP leader, says she hasn’t made up her mind but “at this stage, it’ll be a no”. Frecklington says she’s meeting with Elvie Sandow, mayor of the Cherbourg Aboriginal Shire Council, next week. Sandow told local media recently that her community was confused about the voice, and “are they going to cater for every community?”
No voice on the voice for state MPs
Speaking of the voice, QLD MPs have been forbidden from using their Electorate and Communication Allowance (ECA) to tell their constituents about the upcoming referendum.
Chooks hears certain Labor MPs asked Neil Laurie, the clerk of the Queensland parliament, whether they could use the taxpayer-funded pot of money to “disseminate information” about the voice vote.
According to a recently published ruling, Laurie then asked the Independent Remuneration Tribunal for advice, which decided MPs cannot use the allowance for that purpose “whether the information advocates a particular position or not”.
“The Tribunal is of the view that a federal referendum such as the voice referendum is not within the purview of state members’ parliamentary and constituency responsibilities,” the QIRT thundered.
MPs are also not allowed to use their electoral allowance for private or commercial purpose, political party activity, electioneering and campaigning purposes (yes, really) or to purchase goods or services where the member or their friends or family is the provider of said goods or services.
Top dog
What’s more absurd, third-term Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk claiming she is heading into the next state election as the underdog or Steven Miles’ insistence being deputy premier is his “dream job”?
A YouGov poll, commissioned by The Courier Mail, suggests Labor is on track to lose government at the October 2024 election.
Palaszczuk is firm that she will run again despite the drop in her popularity and Labor Party rules make it almost impossible for any internal rival to wield the knife.
But that won’t stop party players from lining up her successor.
Once a prevailing force, Labor’s Right faction has been in rapid decline in recent years, kiboshing hopes its leader, Treasurer Cameron Dick, will ever become premier.
In the dominant Left faction – which controls the numbers in cabinet and caucus – Miles is top of the pecking order.
His Left faction colleague Shannon Fentiman has also been shaping up as a serious contender.
When Fentiman was asked about the dire poll results this week, she stuck to the more traditional retort: “The only poll that matters is the poll on election day”.
Ruffled feathers
The father of Queensland’s merged Liberal National Party, Bruce McIver, ruffled feathers with his comments to one of the Chooks earlier this month about the state of the party.
McIver, who once owned a major trucking company drove the 2008 amalgamation of the conservative parties at the federal and state levels in Queensland, but reckons the LNP is “losing its way”
In a page one article on April 28, McIver cited falling membership since he left as LNP prez and an apparent ambivalence over the loss of two federal seats – Brisbane and Ryan – at last year’s election
McIver said: “We won Brisbane to get into government when Tony (Abbott) was there. And we lost both and in the report that was done on the election (by the LNP) … they just glossed over it. Everything was hunky-dory and I thought, ‘Gee whiz, that’s alarm bells’.”
The comments annoyed a few people in the ranks of the party, prompting newly-anointed state director Ben Riley to call McIver not once, but twice on the day of publication.
Apparently, Riley told him that there was a suggestion McIver should face some sort of sanction for speaking publicly about the party without authorisation – an offence that some members faced action over while he was prez.
Both sides won’t talk about the exchange, but it is understood McIver didn’t back down and Riley hasn’t taken it any further.
Watt a good guy
This afternoon the ACCI - @NationalFarmers Agrifoods Workforce Summit at @QUT Brisbane heard from @MurrayWatt and @D_LittleproudMP, followed by a panel session exploring workforce reform. Senator Watt discussed today’s migration report release, and the need for a pathway to… pic.twitter.com/YN2QX05rSO
— Australian Chamber of Commerce & Industry (ACCI) (@ACCINews) April 27, 2023
Less than a year ago, former Agriculture Minister David Littleproud, said his Labor successor Murray Watt was “not up to the job”.
But the Nationals leader had an entirely different tone at an industry event hosted by the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the National Farmers’ Federation in Brisbane on Thursday.
The pair briefly posed for a photo together, and, taking to the stage following the minister’s speech, Littleproud called on the audience to give Watt a round of applause.
“It’s good to see Murray here,” Littleproud said.
“While we are on different sides of the political spectrum, can I say it is encouraging that we have a Minister who is interested in Australian agriculture.
“There is a lot of knowledge to understand and appreciate and particularly when a new government comes in it’s hard to get your head around all the details.
“It’s important the new minister has an interest in it and Murray does have an interest in Australian agriculture.
“That’s a good thing for regional Australia and that’s why the Nationals will continue to be constructive in all the things that we put forward.”
Chooks reckon the gloves will be off again in no time when Labor’s plans to end the live sheep export trade ramp up.
Spotted
Things got a bit wild at an Anzac Day event in Darra on Tuesday.
Chooks hears that the Premier’s dad, Henry Palaszczuk, was addressing the crowd when he started to get heckled.
The heckler was then decked by an ex-serviceman.
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