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Robert Schwarten says call for his go celebrity chef restaurant lunch a shot,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych]
Opposition Leader John-Paul Langbroek today called for Mr Schwarten's head after he dined with the Builders Labourers Federation at celebrity chef Matt Moran's Eagle Street restaurant Aria,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych],[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], rather than attend a press conference he wasn't invited to.
The lunch was on simultaneously as a press conference held by Premier Anna Bligh and Health Minister Paul Lucas upon the release of the report criticising the delivery of Queensland Health's new payroll system,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych].
Additionally,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], it criticised the whole-of-government IT provider,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], CorpTech - a company in Mr Schwarten's portfolio involved with implementing the flawed payroll system.
Mr Langbroek said Mr Schwarten's decision to attend the lunch rather than answer reporters' questions rubbed salt into the wounds of Queensland workers who have been not paid properly,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych].
"If the general public works minister is known as dining out while the nurses of Queensland are unable to put groceries on the table,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], then clearly he should be sacked,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych]," he said.
The minister must have been fixing the issues,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych],[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], instead of dining inside a five-star restaurant,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych],[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], he explained.
But Ms Bligh said Mr Schwarten was attending a long-standing business lunch,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], paid for through the building union representatives he was dining with.
"I indicated that he was not needed,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych],[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], because I would be answering the questions on behalf from the government unsurprisingly in the premier," she said.
Ms Bligh said it was a part of Mr Schwarten's job as the minister for public works to talk with building representatives,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], there was nothing untoward about it.
Mr Schwarten accused Mr Langbroek of taking a "cheap shot",[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], saying his broad portfolio required him to attend many meetings - some at restaurants - having a range of organisations.
He explained he did not choose that one restaurant and was there strictly for government business,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych],[link widoczny dla zalogowanych].
"I don't say no to individuals who legitimately invite me to some function,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych],[link widoczny dla zalogowanych]," he told a Parliamentary Estimates Committee today.
"I don't care in which the venue is. If other people choose the venue, that's a matter for them."
Following the report,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], the federal government announced it would abandon the one-size-fits-all method of payroll across government and overhaul CorpTech.
Meanwhile,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych],[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], the Queensland Nurses Union will rally outside Parliament House tomorrow morning to demand answers from the government about the payroll situation. |
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