Queensland politics: Rob Pyne backs industrial manslaughter laws

QLD independent Rob Pyne has backed Labor’s controversial industrial manslaughter legislation, but his fellow crossbenchers are undecided.

Rob Pyne at Queenslandd Parliament. Picture: Annette Dew

Queensland independent Rob Pyne has backed Labor’s controversial industrial manslaughter legislation, but his fellow crossbenchers are undecided on the move as the mining industry steps up lobbying efforts.

The Australian revealed today that the Queensland Resources Council has threatened to campaign against the Palaszczuk government at the looming state election, because Labor wants to extend a proposed new industrial manslaughter offence to the mining sector.

READ MORE: Miners hit out at industrial kill laws

The legislation is due to be voted on in Queensland’s hung parliament this week, where Labor needs the backing of three of the five crossbench MPs to pass the bill.

Mr Pyne today confirmed to The Australian that he would back Labor’s bill, which would see Queensland become the second jurisdiction in the country to have a specific offence of industrial manslaughter, after the ACT.

Unions have lobbied heavily for the offence to be introduced, in the wake of fatalities last year at Dreamworld and the Eagle Farm racetrack.

Despite Katter’s Australian Party MP Robbie Katter telling The Australian yesterday that he was undecided but he was “unlikely to go against it,” he said today he was “back to the drawing board”.

Mr Katter said he was due to meet with the Queensland Resources Council tomorrow and had not decided how the KAP would vote.

“It’s probably too early to pre-empt that, there’s a lot of water under the bridge before now and then, that’s a big one,” Mr Katter said.

“We’re back to the drawing board…they’ve (the mining industry) have expressed some concern that it’s been included now.”

A spokesman for Mr Katter said the MP’s position had not changed and he had already been undecided on the issue.

Ex-Labor MP Billy Gordon, who now sits as an independent on the crossbench, said he had concerns with the industrial manslaughter legislation.

“I am concerned that (there should be) no shortcuts when it comes to safety on the job, and there shouldn’t be any shortcuts when it comes to legislation,” Mr Gordon said.

“The ends don’t justify the means, in this case.”

Mr Gordon did not say how he would vote on the legislation, which is due to be voted on this week, but had spoken to major mining company BHP, the Queensland Resources Council, Master Builders and the Chamber of Commerce and Industry Queensland – all of which oppose the new offence.

“Now I’ll sit down with the government and my crossbench colleagues,” he said.

One Nation MP Steve Dickson declined to comment, but it is understood he met with the QRC’s chief executive Ian Macfarlane today.

Independent Speaker Peter Wellington will have a say if he needs to cast the deciding vote.