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In relation to accountability they have promised to:
· Give people a real say on issues affecting their local community
· Conduct a war on waste
· Be honest and accountable
· Hold Ministers to account for their decisions
· Make it illegal to lie to Parliament
(Source: Contract with Queensland from the LNP website)
On giving people a say, I don’t recall any community consultation on the changes made to the Civil union legislation. A number of surveys have consistently shown that a majority of Australians support gay marriage, and in Queensland that has been shown to be 54%-56%. If Campbell had asked Queenslanders he may well have found no support for the changes his Government rushed through after the election.
Equally, the recent decision to allow Uranium mining in Queensland after a 23 year moratorium was not canvassed during the recent election campaign, and was announced as a result of no consultation. I would suggest that there are a great many stakeholders in the State who deserved to be consulted, not just the Australian Conservation Foundation (not that misleading the ACF could be considered consultation).
On honesty, accountability, and it being illegal to lie to Parliament:
The recent issues surrounding Michael Caltibiano raise a number of interesting questions. It is clear that the referral to the Ethics committee came following concerns raised by the Opposition and after it being raised in the media, and not as a result on the Government being proactive on matter of honesty and accountability. Caltibiano was appointed by Campbell Newman (despite concerns and protests), what will the Premier’s accountability be in relation to the accusations of 'his man' misleading the Parliament, or in relation to the CMC’s investigation into the appointment of Ben Gommers.
And then there is Ros Bates. Initially there were concerns raised about nepotism when Tracy Davis' daughter was employed in her office. This soon became a police matter when Alexandra Davis required medical attention in State Government offices and was found in possession of a quantity of ecstasy. There are legitimate Work Health and Safety concerns around such an issue, for which Ros should be able to provide answers on those within her department who are accountable for allowing such an incident to occur. There are also questions in relation to the appointment of Ros' son Ben Gommers, as well as the lobbying firm Entre Vous which she co-owns and which is at the centre of the Caltibiano matter. Her sudden unavailability may be due to illness, but time will tell if she is available to answer all relevant questions. And if she will be held accountable for the answers.
Bruce Flegg, one time leader of the parliamentary Liberal party in Qld, also seemed to have no questions to answer over his decision to send the LNP treasurer in to investigate GoPrint, despite having no knowledge or experience of the printing industry.
And most notably, there are the pre-election promises that the only job reductions will be as a result of 'natural attrition'. This then included the termination of contracted workers, despite the fact that some contracts had been in place for up to 20 years. Queenslanders were then treated to Campbell's weazel words around 'front line workers' which seemed to be regularly manipulated to allow him to remove as many workers as the opinion polls would allow. This was followed with the almost laughable statement that 'not one permanent employee has been sacked'.
With so many issues pending, the jury is still out on the accountability of this Government. But with a Premier who seems so deluded that he believes that there is widespread support for the scale of public sector sackings he has orchestrated, it seems likely that the Contract he has with Queensland is not worth the paper it is written on.
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Update: this morning, someone from Campbell's electorate provided some feedback about how his Government are conducting their business.
What are your thoughts on the performance of this Government?