Qld politicians return to parliament

Queensland politicians will return to parliament on Tuesday to debate new laws and walk the electorate through old issues.

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk in state parliament.

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk in state parliament. (AAP)

Queensland politicians will return from an extended holiday this week to debate revenge porn, wage theft and euthanasia.

The state government is focused on passing a string of policies in line with its social agenda, while the Liberal National Party will try to shift debate towards traffic and water security in the north.

Both sides will have their sights firmly set on the brewing federal election to see what it means for them going forward.

Social policies proposed by Annastacia Palaszczuk's Labor government last year are almost ready for debate.

They include giving the terminally ill a choice about when they want to die, protections on human rights and laws that would make revenge porn a criminal offence.

The Liberal National Party will keep up its rhetoric on problems that impact its urban and country voters, and trot out issues from last year.

They want more transparency around the naming of the Queensland Children's Hospital, changed from Lady Cilento Children's Hospital in a swift move that cost up to $500,000.

Griffith University political analyst Paul Williams says the state government avoided considerable heat over that issue because of chaos in Canberra.

"They've really gotten a free ride somewhat since last August because of the federal factors," Mr Williams told AAP.

"We've seen potentially explosive, and under normal circumstances, debilitating developments such as ... Steven Miles' online voting for the hospital.

"It's not being exploited by the opposition."

Tackling congestion in the state's southeast will also be revisited by the LNP, and they will continue to talk about why more dams should be built in the state's north.

The divide between the city and the bush will be a prominent theme for the LNP, and when not sitting in parliament the conservatives will be working to solve another problem: Making sure people know who their party leader actually is.

They admit there is work to be done on building Deb Frecklington's profile, something the government may try to exploit.

"She's going through and ticking all of the boxes, but she hasn't looked at the big picture, there's no holistic narrative," Mr Williams said.

So while the LNP works to convince voters to back Ms Frecklington at next year's state election, the government will be building its own narrative to convince the electorate why it shouldn't.


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Published 10 February 2019 12:44pm
Source: AAP


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