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| Minister Stephen Robertson booted out of Parliament. |
WATER Minister Stephen Robertson has been kicked out of State Parliament during a torrid question time in which the LNP attacked the Bligh Government over its controversial floods inquiry.
Speaker John Mickel asked Mr Robertson to leave the House for 10 minutes after the embattled Minister refused to resume his seat as debate over last January’s floods raged.
Parliamentary Opposition leader Jeff Seeney went straight for the throat, questioning how the Floods Commission had missed key evidence that forced the inquiry to reconvene for extraordinary hearings this month.
“Can the Premier answer that question and explain how her $15 million, hand-picked flood commission on inquiry has degenerated into such farce?” Mr Seeney said.
Under attack, Premier Anna Bligh repeatedly defended the inquiry, saying her Government was determined to find the truth about what happened during last January’s floods.
She attempted to gain the upper hand by playing on leadership questions that had dogged the LNP in recent days, after leader Campbell Newman repeatedly refused to say who would be Premier if the LNP won office but he lost Ashgrove.
“Only two options, you have a secret plan B or you have no plan B. Either of them are a betrayal of the people of Queensland,” she said.
“It’s simple. If you don’t know who your leader is you cannot govern Queensland.”
Undeterred, Mr Seeney drew on four key questions posed by The Courier-Mail in recent weeks, including why Deputy Commissioner Phil Cummins was sidelined despite Commissioner Cate Homes’ insistence that his links to a company implementing one of her recommendations was not a conflict of interest.
“How can the inquiry proceed without a dam expert and not be regarded as a farce?” he asked.
But Ms Bligh pointed out that it was the LNP who had called for more drinking water to be held in the dam in the months before the flood, after which Mr Mickel warned the raucous Opposition to settle down or risk being kicked out.
Ms Bligh said documents submitted to the inquiry showed Wivenhoe Dam managers had released less water than they thought necessary for five hours during the floods at the “express request” of Brisbane City Council, of which Mr Newman was lord mayor.
Parliament sits until Thursday after which it will rise ahead of the March 24 election.
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