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Thursday, 20 May 2004 20 May 2004 Legislative Assembly 1291 THURSDAY, 20 MAY 2004 Legislative Assembly Mr SPEAKER (Hon. R.K. Hollis, Redcliffe) read prayers and took the chair at 9.30 a.m. PRIVILEGE Member for Darling Downs Hon. R.E. SCHWARTEN (Rockhampton—ALP) (Minister for Public Works, Housing and Racing) (9.31 a.m.): I rise on a matter of privilege. The shadow spokesperson for public works, housing and racing, Mr Hopper, has recently penned letters to a variety of regional newspapers. I table a copy of one of these from the Sunshine Coast Daily on Monday, 17 May. The honourable member states that I have decided that 'we cannot afford to keep the Beattie Labor government's election promises despite them having been made just a few months ago'. This is a deliberate falsehood. It has no semblance of truth whatsoever and represents an attempt by the inadequate shadow minister to make himself relevant. I have already indicated in this House and outside that all building promises made at the last election have been costed and will be delivered. That was the case at the election and it is the case now. Queenslanders deserve proper policy debate from the opposition, not this sort of puerile and grubby performance. PRIVILEGE Attorney-General Mr SPRINGBORG (Southern Downs—NPA) (Leader of the Opposition) (9.32 a.m.): Mr Speaker— Mr Hopper interjected. Mr SPEAKER: Order! I point out to the member for Darling Downs that his leader is on his feet. Mr SPRINGBORG: I rise on a matter of privilege. We are not prepared to sit back and let the Premier mislead the people of Queensland. The allegations regarding the Attorney-General have not been fully investigated as asserted— Mr Fouras interjected. Mr SPEAKER: Order! I will hear the point of privilege. Mr SPRINGBORG: The allegations regarding the Attorney-General have not been fully investigated as asserted by the Premier and we ask the Speaker to refer the Premier's misleading assertions to the Members' Ethics and Parliamentary Privileges Committee. Yesterday in this House the Premier claimed that the Crime and Misconduct Commission had fully investigated all allegations arising from the Attorney-General's conduct at a staff Christmas party organised by the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions. The CMC has advised us otherwise. The CMC did investigate whether or not the Attorney-General had threatened reprisals if the alleged victim complained. The CMC did not—I repeat did not—investigate the actual conduct of the Attorney-General and whether or not he had harassed a member of the DPP staff. I will quote from the CMC's advice to us. Mr SPEAKER: Order! I think we are really getting out of the realms of a point of privilege. The member is starting to debate it. Mr SPRINGBORG: With due respect, there is no personal attack on anyone in this as we saw from the Minister for Public Works. We have seen the Premier stand up in this place and respond to media articles which are on the periphery of anything which is being debated in here. I am pointing out where there are contradictions. Mr SPEAKER: Order! I am very happy to listen to a reasonable length point of privilege. The member is really starting to debate the issue. Mr SPRINGBORG: We have had five-minute points of privilege from the Premier. 1292 Ministerial Statement 20 May 2004 Mr SPEAKER: Points of privilege relate to where it affects the member. I cannot see where it is affecting the member at this stage. Mr SPRINGBORG: The point of privilege affects the integrity of this House and relates to answers that have been given in this place. The CMC's advice to us on 15 March this year stated— When conducting their inquiries, Agency officers were concerned to establish whether the Agency had the necessary jurisdiction. In the circumstances of this case, the Agency would only have jurisdiction if there was any evidence (or even information) that there was any criminal behaviour on the part of the Attorney-General. This is the part that I want the Speaker to hear. It stated— They were not concerned, nor should they have been, whether the Attorney-General's conduct may have been in breach of any of the non-criminal provisions of the Anti-Discrimination Act. I repeat that the CMC did not concern itself with whether the Attorney-General's conduct may have breached the Anti-Discrimination Act. The opposition has been very responsible and very restrained in its handling of this issue. We have not detailed the allegations against the Attorney-General. We have not tabled the documents which contain those allegations. In fact, given the nature of the documents in our possession, we have been extremely circumspect. But the opposition is not prepared to sit back and let the Premier mislead the House. The Attorney-General's conduct at the staff Christmas party has not been fully investigated—not by the CMC, not by the Premier and not by anyone. The CMC did not interview any of the witnesses at the party; it did not interview any of the people in whom the alleged victim confided; it did not even interview the Director of Public Prosecutions who actually referred these allegations to the then Director- General of Justice. It did not even interview the Attorney-General. It interviewed only a junior staffer who was clearly worried about reprisals. These matters have not been fully investigated. We will be writing to the Speaker asking him to refer this matter and the Premier's comments and contradictions to the Members' Ethics and Parliamentary Privileges Committee. Mr SPEAKER: Order! I was going to ask the Leader of the Opposition to do that. PRIVILEGE Minister for Health Mr MESSENGER (Burnett—NPA) (9.36 a.m.): Yesterday in this House the Minister for Health attempted to cast a slur on my character. Yesterday in this House the Minister for Health accused me of threatening a community leader, Mr Viv Chase, the Chairman of the Bundaberg and District Health Council, and his family during a phone conversation. This is a gross and devious distortion of the truth and I categorically and unreservedly deny threatening Mr Chase or his family. The only thing I am guilty of is working for a better health system for my constituents. PAPERS MINISTERIAL PAPER TABLED BY THE CLERK The following ministerial paper was tabled by The Clerk— Attorney-General and Minister for Justice (Mr Welford)— • Response from the Attorney-General and Minister for Justice (Mr Welford) to an E-Petition sponsored by Mr Roberts from 129 petitioners regarding lowering the voting age to either 16 or 17 MINISTERIAL PAPER The following ministerial paper was tabled— Minister for State Development and Innovation (Mr McGrady)- Report on recent visit to Japan, Korea and China—18 to 27 April 2004 MINISTERIAL STATEMENT Kogan Creek Power Station Hon. P.D. BEATTIE (Brisbane Central—ALP) (Premier and Minister for Trade) (9.38 a.m.): Today I am pleased to announce a significant development in the continued growth of Queensland as the energy hub of Australia. The government has granted approval to government owned corporation CS Energy to proceed with development of the Kogan Creek power station near Chinchilla. The state government, through CS Energy, will spend $1.1 billion to develop the Kogan Creek base load power station. It will create 1,000 jobs during construction and 120 permanent jobs when fully operational. This is great news for Queensland, the shires of the Darling Downs and Chinchilla in particular. 20 May 2004 Ministerial Statement 1293 The power station will be constructed by a consortium of Siemens/Hitachi over a 39-month period under a fixed-price contract with CS Energy for commercial operation in September 2007. The development of the Kogan Creek power project sees both a strong stand-alone commercial project being delivered and long-term security in terms of low-priced electricity supply for Queensland. Queensland is the growth state and requires new energy infrastructure to cater for that impressive growth. Population gains as well as the continued investment by industry will increase demand for electricity in Queensland. We are preparing for that demand. The state government has recognised the need to cater for this growth and the commercial and economic benefits this project will bring. Reliable, low-cost electricity is fundamental to Queensland's continuing international competitiveness as a destination for major industrial developments. In terms of local benefits, at least 40 per cent of the value of the project will be carried out by Australian contractors. The consortium looking after construction will offer opportunities to Queensland and Australian manufacturers to supply components to the project. CS Energy is experienced with construction and construction staff on its sites. Using the Callide C Power Station in Biloela as an example, CS Energy expects a sharp rise in the numbers in Chinchilla due to the construction work force. Over the three years of the Callide C project, workers were well assimilated into the local community and they received strong support. A Chinchilla Community Benefits Trust has been established under the project for the purpose of developing and upgrading community infrastructure to support the local region. CS Energy has committed to the upgrade of Banana Bridge Road and various facilities at the Brigalow State School to offset the impact of increased traffic. When complete, the Kogan Creek power station will be one of the lowest cost black coal-fired power stations in the national electricity market. At 750 megawatts, it will also be the largest individual generating unit in Australia and is forecast to provide seven per cent of Queensland's demand when commissioned.
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