Shadow Minister for Public Works and Information and Communication Technology Jann Stuckey said Minister Schwarten, despite his protestations, had ignored LNP warnings that asbestos removal procedures at Mackay schools did not comply with QBuild procedures.

“Despite assuring Parliament that QBuild was complying with its own rules for asbestos removal in Mackay, students from two more Mackay schools had to be evacuated when it was discovered that asbestos had been disturbed in 19 classrooms,” said Ms Stuckey.

“The minister assured Parliament that a monitoring process was in place to ensure appropriate practices were followed,” she said.

“If this is the case, why is the minister allowing work to be carried out on buildings known to contain asbestos while classes are being conducted?”

 Ms Stuckey said it was not good enough for the minister to conduct yet another ‘investigation’.

“This further failure to ensure proper practices are being followed poses serious questions,” she said.

“Who is the contractor this government is now blaming for their latest asbestos bungle?

 “How many more schools have been exposed to these potentially unsafe practices?

 “And why did this minister’s much lauded monitoring systems fail to detect this for five months?”

LNP Shadow Minister for Health Mark McArdle raised Forest Lake resident Hans Hagen’s long wait in Parliament today, after the Health Minister failed to respond to Mr Hagen’s correspondence.

Mr McArdle said the delays and bureaucratic hurdles Mr Hagen had faced were an indictment on the Queensland’s health system.

“Category one patients are the most urgent cases — Queensland Health’s own guidelines state the patient should be admitted for treatment in 30 days — but 267 days after Mr Hagen’s aneurysm was first diagnosed he still is waiting to get into the operating theatre,” he said.

“This is simply unacceptable — how did our health system get so bad that a man with a serious life-threatening condition is just told to go home and wait for seven months?”

Mr McArdle said Mr Hagen had been reluctant to raise his case publicly, but after seven months and excuses the pensioner felt he had no other choice.

“Mr Hagen has been told time and time again by doctor after doctor that his surgery should have been done by now — but no-one has been able to get him into the operating theatre,” he said.

“Mr Lucas won’t respond to Mr Hagen’s letters, the Health Quality Complaints Commission can’t act and still Mr Hagen’s life is in the balance.”

Mr McArdle said Mr Hagen had been advised to stop taking medication for another health problem in preparation for the surgery — but the surgery never happened.

“Mr Hagen has put his health at risk by staying off his blood thinning medication so he was ready for surgery.

 “Now he has been told by the Department of Neurosurgery that he may as well go back onto his medication, because “pressure on operating time” means they can’t book him in for surgery.”

“This is a disgrace and it’s all because the Labor Government has systematically run our health system into the ground.

“In Parliament today, I called on the Health Minister to personally meet with Mr Hagen to apologise for his treatment and explain how such a disgraceful mistake could happen.

“Its time the Health Minister took responsibility for his portfolio and ensured this kind of delay does not happen again.”

 Hans Hagen letter (2)

LNP emergency services spokesman Ted Malone said the Bligh Government had blown $80 million on a non-functioning new comms centre, but had sat on its hands and done nothing to upgrade the ambulance radio network.

“It’s so out of date it’s a joke, and the Minister refuses to even acknowledge there’s a problem,” Mr Malone said.

 “There are hundreds of black spots right across the State and not just in the regions.

“Because much of the network is still out-dated analogue, which works on line-of-sight signal, there are black-spots right across Brisbane, including the CBD, and all over the south-east.”

 Mr Malone said frontline paramedics were often forced to use their own mobile phones to call 000 for back-up.

“The Bligh Government is so miserable …they (paramedics) don’t even get reimbursed for those calls …which are made in the line of duty to call for assistance when the radios in their ambulances won’t work because the network is so hopeless.”

 Mr Malone said while the Bligh government happily blew tens of millions of dollars of taxpayers’ money on spin doctors, highly-dubious propaganda and advertising, it was ignoring a major public safety issue in the out-of-date QAS radio network.

 LNP Deputy-Leader Lawrence Springborg said Bligh Labor’s forced amalgamations promised big savings and cost-efficiencies – but in reality were delivering pain in the form of 20 per cent rate hikes.

 “Anna Bligh’s promise of council efficiencies is lying in tatters,” Mr Springborg told State parliament this morning.

“The whole, politically-driven amalgamations program has been a costly disaster …and it’s being left to ratepayers to pick up the bill.

 “Costs of the forced amalgamations have been horrendous …there have been wages blowouts, soaring debt and a lot of planning in the new council entities is in total disarray.

 “The Premier and Treasurer Andrew Fraser, who was the former Local Government responsible, promised streamlined councils, better and more cost-effective services.

 “But they’ve delivered nothing but high costs, financial and planning disasters and Queensland ratepayers are now feeling real pain.”

In State parliament, Bligh Government Members voted down LNP’ amendments to the Barron water resource plan to allow sustainable use of sub-artesian water in Area B.

LNP Member for Dalrymple Shane Knuth told parliament Tableland irrigators had had enough of the Bligh government and the Minister for Water Resources’ politically-driven attack on Tableland farming.

Mr Knuth called on the Minister to undertake a technical review of the Douglas Partners’ report and look at the science of the issue rather than the politics.

“The government encouraged irrigators to explore sub-artesian water in Area B and a lot of money and effort were put into drilling …new entitlements were issued in the water resource plan … then the government slammed on a moratorium …resulting in a number of court cases and costing irrigators hundreds of thousands of dollars,” Mr Knuth told parliament.

Mr Knuth said the Bligh government had been strongly criticised in the Land Court for its actions – especially for ignoring expert, independent hydro-geological advice.

“The government’s claim that expansion in Area B would be detrimental to the iconic Curtain Fig tree is ridiculous because the fig is uphill (from Area B) and its roots draw water from only the top couple of metres,” he said.

“The actions of Labor Members in voting down the LNP’s commonsense amendments prove they’re not interested in sound science – only politically-driven policy that’s contrary to the sustainable economic development of the Tableland.”

Mr Knuth said the fight was not over and he would continue to press the Minister to answer the expert opinion of leading hydro-geologist Ian Hair of Douglas Partners.

“The Minister, if he has an ounce of honesty, would undertake a proper technical review of the Douglas Partners’ report, especially as the Land Court of Queensland ruled the evidence provided by the Department’s hydrologist and principal policy officer could not be safely relied upon.”

Shadow Minister for Education & Training Dr Bruce Flegg said it was an extraordinary revelation by Education Minister Geoff Wilson that he had been aware students and teachers in at least three Mackay schools had been exposed to asbestos.

“The Bligh Labor government has admitted school children and teachers were exposed to potentially lethal asbestos fibres while sitting in classes, even while yet another local school was still being investigated for asbestos contamination,” Dr Flegg said.

 “Minister Wilson today also admitted prep year students at a third school, Moranbah State School, were also directly exposed to asbestos when work was carried out on it while they were in class.

 “For six years we have been trying to make students and teachers safe from asbestos and yet this continues to occur.

 “Parents and teachers have a right to be incensed that children and teachers have been exposed.”

Dr Flegg said from a medical perspective there was no safe level of asbestos and there was no way of testing children to see if they had inhaled asbestos or not.

“Taxpayers are paying a fortune for safe asbestos removal but someone is making a fortune without doing the job properly,” he said.

“The connection between asbestos contaminated clothes in the house and deadly mesothelioma cancer is well established yet students seem to have been sent home in potentially contaminated clothing and have not even been given the appropriate safety advice.

“This Minister needs to take responsibility for his ongoing failure to provide a duty of care.

“It is not enough to call yet another investigation.”

Shadow Minister for Community Services & Housing and Shadow Minister for Women Rosemary Menkens, who introduced a private members bill to recognise grandparents providing care, said the situation in which grandparents were becoming primary carers for their grandchildren was increasing.

“There are many reasons why grandparents are assuming care for their grandchildren,” Mrs Menkens said.

“Many grandparents are not in a position to be able to assume care for their grandchildren without suffering financial hardship.

 “Some are caught in a generation gap, simultaneously providing for elderly parents as well as grandchildren.

“They need recognition of the situation they are in, which is why the LNP has introduced a private members bill to ensure their interests are considered when decisions are made which will impact on their ability to care for their grandchildren.”

 Mrs Menkens said the bill would target those seniors who were doing it tough.

“It is not easy for people who are settling into retirement or semi-retirement to have to start looking after young children again,” she said.

 “It needs to be recognised that grandparents who provide full-time care to their grandchildren become primary care givers and deserve the same rights and benefits as other primary care givers.

 “The bill the LNP has introduced recognises the vital community service those grandparents perform and through the Grandparent Carer Charter (attached) provides a framework to ensure they are considered in any decision-making that affects them.”

 Schedule 1 The Grandparent Carers

LNP Shadow Transport Minister Fiona Simpson said the reports were a damning indictment of the Bligh Labor Government’s response and preparedness for such an environmental disaster.

“What is clear from these reports is that the Bligh Labor Government was not prepared for an oil spill of this magnitude,” Ms Simpson said.

 “While Maritime Safety Queensland had the knowledge and expertise to respond to the oil spill it couldn’t manage the clean up alone.

 “It is shocking that it took eight days for a clean-up plan to be formed, and another four days for it to be implemented, while the oil spill did more damage to a larger area.”

 Ms Simpson said the Premier’s disaster declaration actually made the departmental confusion worse.

 “The Premier gave every impression that her department had taken control of the clean up after the disaster declaration, but Ms Bligh failed to formally activate the declaration.

 “As a result, some believed Marine Safety Queensland no longer retained command and control of the clean up resulting in further delays and confusion.”

LNP health spokesman Mark McArdle said that questioning in parliament today revealed that State Labor was all too willing to hand over billions in GST money to Kevin Rudd without seeking answers to important questions – including whether regional hospitals and services will be shut down.

“If New South Wales senior health officials are correct, the Rudd reform could force the closure of more than 100 NSW hospitals, which begs the question – how many Queensland regional hospitals will close,” Mr McArdle said.

“Surely Queensland Health has performed a similar impact study, but the Minister denies such an ‘at threat’ list exists.

 “It’s bad enough having decisions made from Brisbane, let alone Canberra.

 “The LNP is in no doubt that we need to change the way the public hospital system is run.

“But the LNP will not agree that handing over billions of dollars of Queensland’s GST money is the right way to go given Rudd can’t even manage to put a pink batt in a roof – particularly without asking even seeking a guarantee of no hospital closures.”

LNP Shadow Transport Minister Fiona Simpson said Labor should stop playing politics and pass the LNP’s Alcohol Interlock Bill.

“Labor has been promising to introduce these devices since 2002 — eight years later they are still finding delays and excuses,” Ms Simpson said.

“The LNP Bill has been ready to debate for four months, but instead of preventing drink driving and saving lives the Bligh Labor Government has scrambled around to put an almost identical bill together.”

 Ms Simpson said the LNP Bill would mean - 

•  High level drink drivers (BAC over 0.15) who reoffend must install an alcohol interlock on their vehicle when they regain their licence.
• Repeat drink drivers and first time high level drink drivers (BAC over 0.15) may be ordered to have an alcohol interlock.
• Drivers caught with a BAC higher than 0.15 three times in five years will lose their licence for good under a three strikes and you’re out rule.
• Drink drivers who are subject to an alcohol interlock order will be required to undergo a rehabilitation course.

“The LNP is committed to stopping repeat offenders from once again getting behind the wheel of a car while under the influence of alcohol.

“In contrast the Bligh Labor Government would not stop drivers who have been caught with high BACs three times from driving again.

“The LNP is committed to saving lives — but all the Bligh Labor Government has is more broken promises, delays and excuses.”