Queensland parliament updates: MPs return to round-out first half of term

The Opposition has taken aim at freshly returned minister Amanda Camm over child safety data, while the government used question time to unload on Labor leader Steven Miles citing a fresh internal criticism finding its way to the media.

Asked to guarantee no child who harmed or died due to departmental delays, or how many of the 91 children known to the child safety system who died last year were waiting for an assessment, Camm did not give a direct response.

“Any loss of a child’s life, of any age, whether they are known to the Child Safety Department or just a Queensland or Australian child, or any child, is a tragedy,“ Camm said.

Several government backbenchers lobbed softball questions to Deputy Premier Jarrod Bleijie, allowing him to tee-off against Miles using quotes in recent media reports critical of his leadership but noting the lack of a clear replacement.

“The Leader of the Opposition’s position is untenable,” Bleijie said. “His front bench – look to the left, look to the right. They are leaking against you.”

Independent Noosa MP Sandy Bolton quizzed Premier David Crisafulli about whether he still intended to change the state’s voting system back to an optional preference scheme before the 2028 election.

Crisafulli said he would, and claimed it would have benefited the LNP to have done so already, noting Labor’s win in the Stafford byelection.

“The primary vote [there] on this side was far higher than Labor, and the only reason that the member of Stafford [Luke Richmond] sits there is because of preferences from the Greens and the Socialists,” Crisafulli said.

“I think it’s very very safe to say, under that [optional preferential] voting system, the member for Stafford wouldn’t be here, and the Leader of the Opposition wouldn’t be there.”