Queensland politics: Hate speech laws to dominate parliament – again; How ‘Canadian-style’ tax reform could deliver a windfall for Qld

Queensland Treasurer David Janetzki has used his ministerial statement this afternoon to detail the government’s submission to a federal Productivity Commission review of GST distribution.

The state government has been vocal about the Commonwealth Grants Commission’s most recent GST allocation, a drop of $2.3 billion – the state’s lowest-ever share – due to heightened coal mining royalties.

Janetzki said Queensland would push for a “Canadian-style” discount to the impact of mining-related revenue on the calculation of the states’ share of the GST.

“States should not be penalised for their contribution to industries that drive national wealth, but under the existing methodology, that is exactly what happens,” he said.

“States that support the growth of our resources industries are penalised, with royalty revenue redistributed to states that ban or restrict exploration.”

Janetzki said Canada’s system saw a 50 per cent discount applied to mining revenue, which was generally on par with Western Australia’s “sweetheart deal”.

Traeger MP and Katter’s Australian Party leader Robbie Katter has introduced his long-promised “castle law” bill to allow lethal force against home intruders.

A government-controlled parliamentary committee will now consider the bill, before making recommendations back to parliament about its passage, amendment, or otherwise.

And with that, we’re back into debate on the government’s hate speech and gun control laws – and the end of our blogging for the day.

We’ll see you back here when proceedings kick off again at 9.30am on Thursday.

Question time has, for a second day, been dominated by LNP figures heaping pressure on Labor leader Steven Miles over what they claim are antisemitic posts by Cairns MP and shadow cabinet member Michael Healy.

Deputy Premier Jarrod Bleijie tabled another post from Healy’s personal Facebook – noting there were “plenty of” them – and accused Healy of perpetuating a racist trope that Jewish people control the media.

“He shares an image of media outlets filming a crying Jewish baby with the Star of David on it – not the Israeli flag, the Star of David – surrounded by dismembered bodies seemingly ignored by the media,” Bleijie said.

“He commented: ‘the massive imbalance in the media reporting contributes to the crimes taking place in this shocking conflict’. Mr Speaker, the member for Cairns continues to propagate another foul antisemitic conspiracy theory.”

Healy interjected that Blejie’s claim was “garbage” and asked him to withdraw.

Premier David Crisafulli, citing comments from Miles that the LNP’s focus was a distraction from the government’s eleventh-hour changes to hate speech laws and Labor’s referral of crime victim data to the audit office, called out: “Still a distraction mate?”

Bleijie then cited Jewish Board of Deputies comments that Healy’s posts aired on Tuesday, comparing the Israel Defense Forces to murder squads and suggesting Australia cut ties with Israel, was dangerous rhetoric that had “fuelled the frames of hatred”.

“He’s got to go,” Bleijie said. Labor, meanwhile, used question time to press Health Minister Tim Nicholls about pay negotiations with radiation therapists and nuclear medicine scientists, who were present in the public gallery.

Nicholls said the disputed wage losses date back to the former government, and claimed the United Workers Union’s desire to have a member undertake an evaluation as part of a work level review amounted to a “conflict of interest”.

He declined to provide a figure for a second question from Miles about how much the demolition of structures already built at the Coomera Hospital had cost.

Former house speaker Ray Hollis, who died late last year, was honoured in Queensland parliament before the start of question time on Wednesday.

Premier David Crisafulli and Opposition Leader Steven Miles led the tributes to the former Labor MP for Redcliffe, but the most substantive came from those who knew him best.

Chris Whiting, from the nearby electorate of Bancroft, said he first met Hollis about 25 years ago when Whiting was a “brash young councillor for the Deception Bay area”.

Whiting said Hollis was always a respectful gentleman, whose time in the speaker’s chair was transformative, in its own subtle way.

“Few speakers of this house have made as significant an impact on parliamentary life as Ray did – and he did it with just one decision that he made shortly after taking the speaker’s chair,” he said.

“Until Ray’s time, members of this house had the letters MLA [Member of the Legislative Assembly] after their name, and often their constituents didn’t know what those letters meant.

“Ray changed that with a stroke of the pen. Since his time as speaker, members of this house have been called MPs.”

Current Redcliffe MP Kerri-Anne Dooley, a member of the LNP, said Hollis’ generosity was legendary on the peninsula, having welcomed more than 1600 constituents into his own home.

“That simple but powerful gesture reflected a man who believed that representation begins with listening,” she said.

London-born Hollis died on December 18, aged 86.

Queensland Treasurer David Janetzki has used his ministerial statement this afternoon to detail the government’s submission to a federal Productivity Commission review of GST distribution.

The state government has been vocal about the Commonwealth Grants Commission’s most recent GST allocation, a drop of $2.3 billion – the state’s lowest-ever share – due to heightened coal mining royalties.

Janetzki said Queensland would push for a “Canadian-style” discount to the impact of mining-related revenue on the calculation of the states’ share of the GST.

“States should not be penalised for their contribution to industries that drive national wealth, but under the existing methodology, that is exactly what happens,” he said.

“States that support the growth of our resources industries are penalised, with royalty revenue redistributed to states that ban or restrict exploration.”

Janetzki said Canada’s system saw a 50 per cent discount applied to mining revenue, which was generally on par with Western Australia’s “sweetheart deal”.

Labor leader Steven Miles says he still has reservations about proposed hate speech laws, but his party will likely support them regardless.

The LNP this week walked away from its plan to give the attorney-general powers to ban phrases, instead moving to prohibit two specific chants widely used at pro-Palestine rallies.

“This is extraordinary and chaotic,” Miles told reporters on Wednesday.

“It’s very difficult for us to support laws that we haven’t yet seen, and we moved yesterday an amendment that would require those laws to go back to the committee for consideration.

“It remains our intention to support the bill at second reading because we support the sentiment of the bill.

“However, we oppose those clauses that seek to limit the free speech of Queenslanders without them having been properly considered by a parliamentary committee.”

Under the proposed laws, the phrases “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” and “globalise the intifada” would be banned.

The bill has divided both parties internally, with concerns about the potential impact on freedom of speech.

Opposition leader Steven Miles confirmed he had spoken to Labor MP Michael Healy about his language on social media, but said the government was weaponising an old post to distract from its own internal divisions.

The Cairns MP was accused of antisemitism and playing on racist tropes in parliament on Tuesday for criticising “the criminal element now running Israel,” and calling for diplomatic engagement with the country to be ceased “as we did with Germany” during World War II.

“I don’t think his post was antisemitic,” Miles told reporters on Wednesday.

“I wouldn’t have used the language that he did, but he explained to the house yesterday why he said that.

“He’s ultimately someone who believes quite passionately in peace in the Middle East, and that’s why he made that post.”

The Labor leader accused the LNP of attempting to draw attention away from its own supposed internal disagreement over proposed hate speech reforms.

“I think we have to remember that this was a tactic,” Miles said.

“They were under pressure from the people in their own ranks who wanted to vote against the premier’s signature legislation.”

Labor has called on the Queensland Audit Office to interrogate claims a data-collection change resulted in fewer victims of crime being reported.

Opposition Leader Steven Miles said on Wednesday his party would refer the allegations to the auditor-general, and he called on the premier to do the same.

“For the second time, David Crisafulli has been caught fudging the figures when it comes to crime,” Miles told reporters outside parliament.

“We can ask the Queensland Audit Office to look at these issues, and we will, but it would have more weight if it was supported by the government.

“If David Crisafulli has nothing to hide, he will do that. I suspect he does have something to hide, and that’s why he won’t.”

Changes to laws under the former government, which came into effect last year, changed requirements for police to investigate incidents of domestic violence between a child and family members, News Corp reported on Tuesday.

The LNP government rejected claims lower victim numbers were attributed to the change, with Police Minister Dan Purdie describing them as “incorrect and insulting”.

The dispute follows the premier’s election gambit to stake his leadership on a future reduction in victim numbers.

Away from parliament down on the Gold Coast, senior figures running the Queensland inquiry into the CFMEU on Wednesday morning accused a traffic management operation of having links with Melbourne underworld identity Mick Gatto.

Counsel assisting the inquiry Patrick Wheelahan said M1 Traffic Control Queensland appeared to have recently begun operations in the state.

The firm had “similar features” to those documented by the CFMEU administration’s former corruption-busting barrister, Geoffrey Watson.

“The corporate structure in the ASIC records for M1 Traffic Control QLD shows similar features to those Watson SC documented: a Paragalli as director, a company with the name Portia Nominees as a shareholder, and all shares held non-beneficially,” Wheelahan said in a statement.

The inquiry figures said no findings had been made, and they were not suggesting who owned the company or that it had engaged in any misconduct.

Calls to the phone number listed on the company’s signage went to voicemail.

Queensland’s hate speech and gun laws will likely dominate parliament again today following a fiery sitting on Tuesday.

Accusations flew from both sides of the chamber yesterday, with the government branding Cairns Labor MP Michael Healy “an antisemite” over social media posts criticising “the criminal element now running Israel” and calling for diplomatic engagement with the state to be ended “as we did with Germany” during World War II.

Meanwhile, the government faced criticism over reports the state’s lower crime victims number was the result of a change in data collection, which Police Minister Dan Purdie described as “incorrect and insulting”.

Follow our live politics blog for the latest from parliament today.