Integrity brawl spills into MPs’ private lives
A heated political row over integrity and conflicts of interest has erupted into a slanging match about MPs’ private lives in state parliament.
A bitter political debate over integrity and conflicts of interest has exploded into a public slanging match about MPs’ private lives, after a ministerial affair triggered fresh scrutiny in parliament.
Queensland Deputy Premier Jarrod Bleijie threatened to expose the relationships of five Labor MPs as he defended the handling of an affair between Olympics Minister Tim Mander and Child Safety Minister Amanda Camm.
During a fiery Question Time, Bleijie turned the spotlight back on the opposition as it continued to pepper the Liberal National government with questions about when the pair disclosed their relationship to integrity authorities.
“I say to the Labor leader of the opposition that he has set a new standard about the private lives of all MPs that they now have to live up to as well,” Bleijie told parliament on Tuesday.
“I agree this is a test of leadership … it’s a test of his leadership and whether he will apply the same standard and threshold to his own team that now he conveniently expects others on the other side of the chamber to do,” he said.
The deputy premier taunted Labor by canvassing a series of past and alleged relationships involving its MPs and asking whether they had been properly declared.
Mander was repeatedly pressed about whether he appropriately managed conflicts of interest after Olympic events, including sailing, were allocated to Camm’s Whitsunday electorate.
He insisted he had followed advice from the integrity commissioner and rejected suggestions he was influenced by a letter sent to Premier David Crisafulli about the relationship.
“I met with the integrity commissioner on a number of occasions, had relevant discussions about potential conflicts of interest and made the appropriate declarations at the appropriate time,” Mander said.
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“I had no knowledge that a former relative of mine contacted the premier’s office about this particular issue … I made the declaration totally independent of any source, any instruction … any allegation or inference that I was influenced by anything or anyone is totally and utterly false,” he said.
Mander also distanced himself from the decision to shift Olympic sailing to the Whitsundays, saying it was made by Bleijie and that there had been “no advocacy” to him by Camm because he was not the minister responsible for venue locations.
The premier continued to back his ministers, saying they had been “very fulsome with their answers” and had declared the relationship at an appropriate time, while declining to release further detail on their integrity advice.
-with AAP
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