Ministerial and Other Office Holder Staff and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2018

Moved the second reading as Attorney-General, outlining the bill's provisions for criminal history checks on ministerial and parliamentary staff, and flagging amendments to give the Queensland Independent Remuneration Tribunal power to determine crossbench staffing entitlements.

“It is imperative that we are able to ensure the suitability of individuals employed under the Ministerial and Other Office Holder Staff Act 2010 and Parliamentary Service Act 1988 to maintain public confidence in these public offices.”— 2020-07-16View Hansard

Stated the LNP would not oppose the bill but criticised the government for taking over two years to bring it to debate, and highlighted the integrity incident that prompted the legislation where the then child safety minister hired a staff member with child pornography convictions.

“The LNP will not oppose this bill because, as the last five years have demonstrated, Queenslanders simply cannot trust the Palaszczuk Labor government to undertake the most basic governance measures to ensure government integrity.”— 2020-07-16View Hansard

Supported the bill as committee chair, noting it was a commonsense evolution of integrity processes and that interim criminal history check arrangements had been working well since 2017.

“Because this was a commonsense evolution of the integrity of the parliament, we did not actually receive any submissions but we went through the process of ensuring people could make submissions.”— 2020-07-16View Hansard

Supported the bill as a committee member but criticised the two-year delay in bringing it to the House, and raised questions about obtaining criminal history information from New Zealand authorities.

“The fact that this legislation has taken at least two years to be passed speaks volumes about the importance that the Attorney-General has placed on it.”— 2020-07-16View Hansard

Supported the bill as reinforcing checks and balances for ministerial and electorate office staff, noting the importance of information safeguards in the digital age.

“This is good legislation. As the member for Mermaid Beach said, we should have had these checks and balances in place some time ago.”— 2020-07-16View Hansard

Supported the bill and the amendment giving the Queensland Independent Remuneration Tribunal power over crossbench resourcing, but argued the tribunal should also determine opposition resourcing, noting the Premier never responded to his letter on the matter.

“I support the amendment. The amendment should have been truly responsive to the resolution that was passed by all members in this House.”— 2020-07-16View Hansard

Supported the bill as reinforcing the government's commitment to accountability and integrity, and praised the work of ministerial and electorate office staff.

“We are the servants of the public. As such, we must not only be people deserving of that trust; we must be seen to be deserving of that trust.”— 2020-07-16View Hansard

Supported the bill as a former committee member but criticised the government for the two-year delay and for shifting blame for the integrity incident that prompted the legislation.

“To have a relatively straightforward piece of legislation take over two years to return to the House again shows the government's lack of genuine care for integrity.”— 2020-07-16View Hansard

Supported the bill and particularly welcomed the amendments giving the Queensland Independent Remuneration Tribunal power to determine crossbench staffing, noting this was recommended by the Fitzgerald inquiry 30 years ago.

“These are the amendments that have an independent remuneration tribunal determine crossbench resourcing. This was recommended by the Fitzgerald inquiry 30 years ago.”— 2020-07-16View Hansard

Supported the bill as a former committee member, calling it commonsense legislation that puts in place what most people would assume already existed, while criticising the government over the incident that prompted it.

“The bill simply puts in place what most of us would assume existed already.”— 2020-07-16View Hansard