Source : the age
The Opposition has taken aim at freshly returned minister Amanda Camm over child safety data, while the government used question time to unload on Labor leader Steven Miles citing a fresh internal criticism finding its way to the media.
Asked to guarantee no child who harmed or died due to departmental delays, or how many of the 91 children known to the child safety system who died last year were waiting for an assessment, Camm did not give a direct response.
“Any loss of a child’s life, of any age, whether they are known to the Child Safety Department or just a Queensland or Australian child, or any child, is a tragedy,“ Camm said.
Several government backbenchers lobbed softball questions to Deputy Premier Jarrod Bleijie, allowing him to tee-off against Miles using quotes in recent media reports critical of his leadership but noting the lack of a clear replacement.
“The Leader of the Opposition’s position is untenable,” Bleijie said. “His front bench – look to the left, look to the right. They are leaking against you.”
Independent Noosa MP Sandy Bolton quizzed Premier David Crisafulli about whether he still intended to change the state’s voting system back to an optional preference scheme before the 2028 election.
Crisafulli said he would, and claimed it would have benefited the LNP to have done so already, noting Labor’s win in the Stafford byelection.
“The primary vote [there] on this side was far higher than Labor, and the only reason that the member of Stafford [Luke Richmond] sits there is because of preferences from the Greens and the Socialists,” Crisafulli said.
“I think it’s very very safe to say, under that [optional preferential] voting system, the member for Stafford wouldn’t be here, and the Leader of the Opposition wouldn’t be there.”
With question time wrapped, we have the government’s plan for the week laid out in more detail.
The first bill to be debated and passed this week will be a bit of a mixed package of laws making changes around expanding what is considered “vacant land” for the purposes of the first home buyer stamp duty exemption, and some other unrelated items.
This will wrap up by 6.30pm, before debate moves to the bill establishing the Queensland Protection Commission – with a vote to pass the laws by 1pm on Thursday.
A further mish-mash Justice and Other Legislation Bill will pass by 9pm that day.
Labor has noted it will seek to move amendments to the new child safety watchdog laws to address governance and independence issues raised by a number of stakeholders, but the government is unlikely to support them.
The Opposition has taken aim at freshly returned minister Amanda Camm over child safety data, while the government used question time to unload on Labor leader Steven Miles citing a fresh internal criticism finding its way to the media.
Asked to guarantee no child who harmed or died due to departmental delays, or how many of the 91 children known to the child safety system who died last year were waiting for an assessment, Camm did not give a direct response.
“Any loss of a child’s life, of any age, whether they are known to the Child Safety Department or just a Queensland or Australian child, or any child, is a tragedy,“ Camm said.
Several government backbenchers lobbed softball questions to Deputy Premier Jarrod Bleijie, allowing him to tee-off against Miles using quotes in recent media reports critical of his leadership but noting the lack of a clear replacement.
Queensland Attorney-General Deb Frecklington has told parliament that notorious childcare paedophile Ashley Paul Griffith has been approved for extradition to NSW to face further charges in the southern state.
“I do wish to take this opportunity at the first available opportunity to inform the house that very recently, in the last 20 minutes or so, the Magistrates Court of Queensland has determined to extradite Ashley Paul Griffith to New South Wales to, I understand, around 180 charges relating to children in New South Wales,” Frecklington said.
“[This is] something that I have been working as attorney with the New South Wales Attorney-General Michael Daley on for several months, and the reason why I was so determined to support that application was because victims deserve … their time in court, and that’s what they will now get in New South Wales for that person”.
Griffith last appealed against a Queensland life sentence in June, after pleading guilty to 307 state and federal charges involving 69 girls including rape, sexual abuse, indecent treatment, and child exploitation material offences.
Child Safety Minister Amanda Camm has given an update on the number of kids in residential care, claiming a small win during her return to parliament after medical leave.
After earlier holding a brief media conference with Attorney-General Deb Frecklington, Camm told parliament there were now 2804 children in residential care across the state.
This was, she said, a slight reduction from the figure of 2819 in the March quarter, marking the first time this had “stabilised” in a decade.
While Camm sought to blame the former Labor government for overseeing year-on-year increases, she did not mention the number had continued to rise under her government.
Welcome back to our coverage of Queensland Parliament!
MPs have returned to George Street today for the first sitting week since mid-September – and the last one of this half of the parliamentary term.
A few bills are on the agenda for debate – pending any scheduling changes – the most significant of which will establish the new Queensland Protection Commission with a raft of child safety roles (but not without criticism).
All this, of course, with a range of bubbling issues for the Crisafulli government within the portfolios of Amanda Camm, who is back this week after extended leave.
With the second half of the term, and Labor’s informal internal leadership change deadline approaching, expect plenty of flak for Opposition Leader Steven Miles, too.
Follow along with us here.
