Queensland politics: Parliament resumes, with WorkCover review coming, teachers underpaid

With MPs’ matters of public interest speeches mirroring much of what’s already been aired this morning, that’s where we’ll leave our blog coverage of parliament for the day.

Here’s some of the key takeaways:

• Transport Minister Brent Mickelberg has confirmed he will introduce laws this week to enact long-awaited changes to the use of e-bikes and e-scooters in the state after a parliamentary inquiry.
• Deputy Premier Jarrod Bleijie has announced a review of its Industrial Relations Act and workers compensation scheme by Glenn Ferguson AM and Gary Black, set to begin this month, citing productivity and increases in psychological injury claims.
• Education Minister John-Paul Langbroek has apologised while revealing about 10,500 state school teachers had been underpaid a total of about $8.7 million (or $830 on average) after a “human error” in the calculation of award rate rises.
• Both the government and opposition focused much of their attention on fuel prices, with the government claiming to have pushed the federal government into action and the opposition accusing the state of holding back on using some of its own powers.

Our blog will be back from about 2pm tomorrow with Wednesday’s later start to parliament.

Parliament is on its lunch break now, and the Labor opposition has just held a media conference outside the house.

Labor’s deputy leader Cameron Dick and transport spokesperson Bart Mellish were mostly focused on continuing question time attacks to push the government to take more action on fuel prices.

But this masthead also asked questions of Mellish about its Public Circus column’s reporting of a hiring freeze in the Department of Transport and Main Roads.

“It is pretty concerning to hear some of these reports out of Transport and Main Roads, but [also] a lot of government departments, about staffing freezes, about how people aren’t being put up in high positions to act, about [how] people’s teams aren’t being back-filled,” he said.

“Transport and Main Road staff do absolutely vital work across the state, whether they’re transport inspectors, checking on the safety, bridges, whether they’re delivering a lot of reforms to e-mobility for example.”

“Transport and Main Roads staff do a fantastic job across the state, this government’s not treating them with a respect they deserve.”

After an initial few questions to ministers from government backbenchers mirroring Labor’s focus for the morning – state action on fuel prices – the LNP changes tack.

Backbenchers shift to lobbing softballs to several cabinet members on the recent evidence of the CFMEU inquiry.

The first saw Mermaid Beach MP Ray Stevens cite constituents “deeply concerned about the revelations coming out of the CFMEU commission of inquiry”.

In response, Deputy Premier Jarrod Bleijie starts reading from part of the inquiry’s transcript where senior counsel assisting Patrick Wheelahan laid out one of this month’s case studies regarding “regulatory capture of the Workplace Health and Safety Queensland by the CFMEU during the period that Miss Grace Grace was the minister for Industrial Relations”.

Bleijie says that if he had been mentioned in such a way by such an inquiry, he “would be very nervous”.

The fuel price spike triggered by the war in the Middle East has emerged as the dominant theme from both sides of the house this morning.

Citing constituents, both government MPs and the opposition have been lobbing questions at ministers about the government’s response.

From the opposition benches, however, the questions have been about whether the government would use its own powers to ensure state refineries and depots run 24/7.

Treasurer David Janetzki has been standing by the government’s actions – the “calm and methodical” involvement with federal cabinet and the national response.

“If those opposite are unhappy with [federal Energy Minister] Chris Bowen and the federal government’s response to this, then they should pick up the phone,” Janetzki says.