Dutton parties in the USA
New Opposition leader skips out on party faithful for a holiday instead — but what on earth is going on in Ipswich?
G’day readers and welcome to the latest instalment of Feeding the Chooks, our weekly column that takes a peek behind the scenes of Queensland politics.
PARTY IN THE USA
Freshly minted Opposition Leader Peter Dutton will skip his victory lap at the Queensland LNP convention this weekend because he’s on holidays.
The Opposition Leader is on leave until July 19, and a little birdie tells The Chooks that Dutts is holidaying in the USA. His office would not confirm if he was indeed overseas.
Dutton’s colleagues, including Angus Taylor, have been having a go at PM Anthony Albanese this week for not being immediately on the ground in flooded NSW, when Albanese was in a war zone in Ukraine.
Did they not know about Dutton’s impending travel plans?
The former policeman’s elevation to top dog is significant for Queensland: he is the first Liberal leader from the Sunshine State and the first man outside of Sydney to lead the party since Alexander Downer (South Australia) in 1995.
Queensland’s party faithful, who are gathered in Brisbane for the LNP’s annual three-day convention from today, would have been fanging for a selfie but will have to settle for Nationals Leader David Littleproud.
This year’s convention will be considerably less spicy than last year (no great purge is anticipated).
The agenda is filled with less contentious motions that most in the party will get around i.e. more funding for palliative care and improving phone service in the regions.
Things might get more interesting when the sun goes down with former Attorney-General and Australian High Commissioner to Britain George Brandis to headline the moderates’ drinks tonight.
Brandis’ popularity among the youth arm of the party is at an all time high after his appearance at a popular gay club in the UK late last year.
LNP UNCLEAR ON ABORTION REVIEW
Abortion is not something Queensland’s Liberal National Party likes to talk about.
During the historic conscience vote to decriminalise abortion in 2018, LNP MPs were threatened with disendorsement if they supported the bill.
Three decided to vote against the majority of their party anyway: Tim Nicholls, Jann Stuckey and Steve Minnikin.
Stuckey quit parliament two years later, saying she had been bullied and ostracised after supporting Labor’s bill.
Ahead of the 2020 election campaign, the LNP said it would review parts of the Termination of Pregnancy Act, including “gestation limits, counselling arrangements and protections against abortion coercion“ if elected.
It did not have plans to criminalise abortion again.
Tens of thousands of Australians took to the streets last week after the Roe v Wade decision was overturned by the US supreme court.
The Chooks wondered if the LNP was still planning this review if it wins in 2024.
Leader David Crisafulli could not give a straight answer, only to say individuals should have their opinions without being influenced by the party.
“Clearly you saw where the votes fell this time and I think that will give you an indication that individuals can express individual views and that is the best way that should be conducted”.
Attorney-General Shannon Fentiman went in for the attack on Twitter.
“He told Qlders to “look how I conducted myself” in 2018. Here‘s how: he voted against the change,” she wrote.
STAR STRUCK
The chatter in the chook shed is that Queensland’s inquiry into alleged fowl play at Star Entertainment’s Brisbane and Gold Coast operations will hold public hearings, which is good news for transparency.
Proceedings are expected to kick off with an opener by retired Court of Appeal judge Robert Gotterson and counsel assisting Jonathan Horton on Thursday next week.
The last time The Chooks saw Horton in action, he was telling a parliamentary inquiry that Crime and Corruption Commission chair Alan MacSporran should be sacked (MacSporran later resigned).
It’s not clear whether the Star probe will result in any scalps, given most of the casino giant’s board and senior management quit or promised to resign during Adam Bell’s bombshell NSW inquiry. But what is apparent from Bell’s groundwork, and The Chooks’ digging, is that Star’s alleged bad behaviour strayed north of the border. Allegedly.
Stay tuned.
WATT WORK?
Queensland Labor Senator Murray Watt has a bit on. Watt’s the new emergency management minister in the Albanese government, so he’s been in the Hunter Valley for the flooding disaster.
And The Chooks have a soft spot (given our feathered namesake) for one of Watt’s other portfolios, agriculture, which is kindly delivering the newbie minister double dilemmas: the bee-destroying Varroa mite and the frankly terrifying threat of foot-and-mouth disease on our doorstep in Bali.
So that’s three disasters and he’s just getting his feet under the desk. When The Chooks caught Watt on the blower last night, he was in Cessnock, fresh off a video call with livestock industry types about the Bali situation, and about to head out to meet more SES volunteers helping with the flood recovery.
Any chance he’s missing the relatively calm days of opposition? Nope. “There’s not a lot of sleep, but this is why you take up these jobs, to get involved in dealing with big challenges. Hopefully we can do some good.”
ONLY IN IPSWICH
What on earth is going on in Ipswich? Chooks readers will recall former long-time mayor Paul Pisasale, the so-called Mr Ipswich, being convicted of sexual assault, corruption, extortion, and fraud in 2019 and 2020.
Well, councillors at Pisasale’s old workplace, the Ipswich City Council, are tying themselves in knots trying to work out what to do about Pisasale Bridge (named after the former mayor) and Pisasale Drive (named for the former mayor’s mum and dad).
Last year, Pisasale’s name was removed. In June, Pisasale’s former deputy mayor Paul Tully moved a motion to put his old ally’s name back on the bridge, which passed, back by five councillors to four.
Mayor Teresa Harding says she’s “appalled” by the move and, after some flipflopping by councillors, there’ll be another vote on Tuesday.
(Apparently council now has a policy that councillors can’t have public assets named after them unless dead, retired, or both.)
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