George Street Beat: Qld politics news and gossip

Courier-Mail

4 days ago

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Labor's Di Farmer delivered one of the more memorable moments at budget estimates this week, but not without some chaos behind the scenes.
Determined to table a Queensland Teachers' Union strike poster for maximum drama, Ms Farmer made a late-night dash to Officeworks to photocopy the prop, only to leave the original behind at the printer.
MP Di Farmer. Pic: John Gass
Cue a frantic return at doors-open the next morning to rescue her forgotten showpiece.
And while Education Minister John-Paul Langbroek huffed that the poster was 'modern day bullying,' we suspect Ms Farmer was quietly thrilled she stuck the landing.
IN DI-NIAL
Speaking of the former education minister, it seems she hasn't quite accepted that she is out of government.
Ms Farmer has not updated her LinkedIn profile from Queensland Education Minister and Minister for Youth Justice.
It's been close to a year now, we think it's time to move on.
Di Farmer's LinkedIn profile is a little out of date.
MINISTER'S DRIVING SLIP
Under a blue sky, with coffees in the console and music on the radio, Attorney-General Deb Frecklington and Transport Minister Brent Mickelberg were breezing across her Nanango electorate.
Mr Mickelberg was at the wheel as Ms Frecklington pointed out roads that needed fixing.
All appeared well, but one partisan GSB spy spotted the car's speedo nudging 105km/h before settling near 103km/h.
That would earn Mr Mickelberg a $333 fine and the loss of one demerit point.
But GSB believes the minister, like all motorists, would be hard done by.
Our spy also pointed out the transport minister had only one hand on the wheel, with the other resting casually on his leg.
Brent Mickelberg behind the wheel during a drive with Attorney-General Deb Frecklington in her electorate. Picture: Facebook
GSB checked the Your Keys to Driving in Queensland program, offered to every learner driver, which said: 'Never operate the wheel with one hand unnecessarily (for example one arm resting on the door).'
We'd like to point back to a February edition of GSB when Mr Mickelberg revealed his children 'chip me on doing the wrong thing … when I occasionally do the wrong thing' while driving.
'Too often we do forget that our primary task when we're driving is to drive and it's easy to become distracted with young kids in the car,' he said in February.
We wonder if that could now extend to a distracting Attorney-General and her back seat staffer.
PERKS OR PARTNERSHIPS?
There are perks to being Queensland's top bureaucrat and then there's being Damien Walker, Director-General of the Department of Premier and Cabinet, who appears to have turned relationship building into a high-performance spectator sport.
From musicals to mud crabs, tennis to Shakespeare, Mr Walker racked up more than $10,500 in complimentary tickets in the first six months of this year — all, of course, in the name of 'maintaining relationships with key stakeholders.'
Director-General Department of Premier and Cabinet Damien Walker during Estimates, Parliament House, Brisbane. Picture: Liam Kidston
Some examples included a cool $1420 for box seats to the NRL Magic Round, another $1000 for State of Origin tickets and $1000 for premium courtside action at the tennis.
Then there was the $460 mud crab experience at Gambaro's, $499 tickets to Grease the Musical, $419 to see Sister Act 2 and $280 for the Queensland Symphony Orchestra – just to list a few.
A $196 ticket to the 'Affordable Art Fair' seemed a bit excessive but GSB did appreciate Mr Walker's attendance at the Courier-Mail's Future Brisbane 2032 announcement, a $195 – but also priceless – experience at Howard Smith Wharves.
If tickets were frequent flyer miles, Mr Walker would be halfway to Rome.
So what did the Queensland community get in return?
Possibly a more 'engaged' DG, definitely a very well-cultured one.
We're sure many policy breakthroughs were had between curtain calls.
PROBITY GODS
GIICA Chair Stephen Conry took the stage at the Australian Constructors Association forum this week, clutching his very prepared speech like it was a court-ordered statement.
In a way, it was.
'I'm giving a prepared speech, and having written it, I'm obliged to actually deliver it,' he announced.
GIICA Chair Stephen Conry.
Somewhere in the room, a probity officer nodded in grim approval from behind a potted ficus.
The very witty Mr Conry was officially gagged by the unrelenting red tape of market sensitivity and whatever flavour of procurement paranoia GIICA is currently marinating in.
To be fair, multiple Olympic and Paralympic Games venues are currently out to market and therefore the mere suggestion of an unscripted opinion might send contract lawyers into cardiac arrest.
'So those standing behind pot plants are probably probity advisers watching everything I say and do,' Mr Conry warned.
And to those probity bosses reading this, don't fret, he didn't go off script.
WATER WAFFLER
After two weeks and hours of government grilling, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Minister Fiona Simpson has emerged as the worst waffler.
Her appearance at estimates this week was exhausting thanks to a clear strategy of delivering a lengthy (and often unrelated) monologue to the most simple questions.
A simple yes-or-no question asked by Labor's Leeanne Enoch about Ms Simpson's responsibilities took her 466 words and almost five minutes to answer.
Frustration from Labor forced the government's chief protector Christian Rowan into overdrive when he claimed Ms Simpson was suffering 'constant interjections'.
In her appearance the minister repeatedly trumpeted the government's effort to deliver water to the Aboriginal community of Woorabinda – for which of course it deserves credit.
But this one-trick-pony said 'clean drinking water' 17 times and 'water' 33 times during her session.
Fiona Simpson, Minister for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Partnerships of Queensland. Picture: John Gass
Here's a quick taste of the painful experience
Nick Dametto: 'With regard to the $180m that has been committed for delivering frontline tangible projects in rural and remote discrete communities, can the minister outline what some of the projects are — other than water quality projects?'
Ms Simpson: 'One key measure is being able to turn on a tap and drink water which meets drinking water standards.'
… Mr Dametto: 'I asked the question about tangible projects other than water projects.'
Ms Simpson: 'Other than water projects, I am sorry; I thought you wanted me to outline the water projects.
Mr Dametto: 'No. We have heard enough about them already.'
HOT SEAT REHEARSAL
Perhaps this Estimates process isn't as independent as we were told to expect.
LNP MP Marty Hunt, who chairs the parliament's Justice, Integrity and Community Safety Committee, attended a behind-closed-doors estimates practice session with Police Minister Dan Purdie and the state's most independent public servant, Acting Police Commissioner Shane Chelepy.
Labor's Glenn Butcher pounced to ask the commissioner: 'Did you raise any concerns with the minister about the appropriateness of the member for Nicklin joining you and other commission officers at that practice session?
Mr Chelepy said he did not.
It's not uncommon for public servants and ministers to prepare for estimates together, but inviting the committee chair is questionable.
We thought estimates were supposed to shine a light, not script the scene.