Queensland Parliament resumed on October 15 with a heated industrial relations debate and fresh questions about a planned Olympic venue.
Labor used the sitting to warn that the LNP government’s labour reforms were a ‘Newman-era attack on workers’, evoking comparisons with the state’s previous conservative government. Bleijie sought to pre-empt what he called ‘mistruths and misinformation’ about the reforms. The government was also pressed on frontline worker leave and assisted dying laws. Separately, a union representing prison officers said prisons would not be safe for officers under the ‘breach of bail go to jail’ proposal.
On the Olympics, the deputy premier conceded there were ‘hypothetical’ scenarios that could disrupt events including rowing on the Fitzroy River, but insisted the venue remained on track. The concession follows World Rowing president Jean-Christophe Rolland telling French outlet Francs Jeux on October 12 that heavy rain and flooding before the Games could make the Rockhampton facility unsuitable for international competition, and that it had not yet been authorised. The river has already been at the centre of a political storm and international intrigue over the 2032 Brisbane Games.