Pitt set to move on

Trad snubbed on first day of Parliament

EX-TREASURER Curtis Pitt says he has put behind him the betrayal of being sacked in favour of Jackie Trad despite a public snubbing of her on the first day of Parliament.

In a break with convention yesterday, Mr Pitt asked crossbench MP Robbie Katter to second his nomination as Speaker over Ms Trad.

Mr Katter – who was asked to perform the duty after consultation with the Premier and the Leader of the House – hinted at “issues” within the Labor Party when asked why he thought he was approached.

Mr Pitt has refrained from publicly ruminating about his dumping as treasurer in December but was “deeply hurt” at losing the Treasury job. However, the Mulgrave MP yesterday indicated he had moved on from the reshuffle.

He said he was looking forward to getting on with his new job as Speaker, a role he had always hoped to one day hold.

Mr Katter yesterday refused to say who had approached him to second Mr Pitt’s nomination but said he believed there were issues.

“I’ll confirm it was the Government which reached out, significant members of the Government which was a surprise to us but at the end of the day the Government deserves to have their Speaker in place and that would happen if it was an LNP government or Labor government and we respect that,” Mr Katter said.

“I’m sure there’s issues within the party, there’s no hiding that but that’s up to them.”

The Opposition yesterday seized on the move, attempting to highlight the rift as they initially attacked Mr Pitt’s nomination, instead nominating one of their own MPs.

“Becoming Speaker should not be a consolation prize for a failed treasurer,” LNP leader Deb Frecklington said as Mr Pitt’s family watched on.

“It is also historic that today, for the first time since 1979, the Government has not been able to find one of its members to second the nomination.”

Leader of the Opposition Business Jarrod Bleijie questioned the motivation for the decision to choose Mr Katter as seconder.

“I suspect the member for Mulgrave did not want the Deputy Premier’s hands on this at all, and he went as far away from the Deputy Premier as he could in this chamber and he found the member for Traeger,” Mr Bleijie told the House.

Ms Trad rejected the claims, insisting she would have been happy to second the nomination.