CCC BLASTS PREMIER

KATTER, LNP CALL FOR PALASZCZUK TO STEP ASIDE

PREMIER Annastacia Palaszczuk faces being punished by State Parliament over allegations she threatened Katter’s Australian Party MPs.

The extraordinary findings by the Crime and Corruption Commission come after Ms Palaszczuk tore up KAP’s special staffing deal when the party refused to bow to her demands to denounce controversial comments made by Senate recruit Fraser Anning.

ANNASTACIA Palaszczuk faces being punished by State Parliament – or even referred for criminal prosecution – over allegations she threatened Katter’s Australian Party MPs.

Queensland’s corruption watchdog yesterday warned there was “prima facie” evidence that the Premier breached the Criminal Code and urged she be stripped of the power to decide MP perks.

The extraordinary findings by the Crime and Corruption Commission come after Ms Palaszczuk ( right) tore up KAP’s special staffing deal when the party refused to bow to her demands to denounce bigoted comments made by Senate recruit Fraser Anning.

Senior legal figures said there was a “real prospect” that the Premier had stumbled into a broad section of the Criminal Code against interfering with the duty of an MP and queried why the CCC did not pursue its own prosecution.

Ms Palaszczuk dismissed the matter shortly after the CCC revealed its finding but the Government was yesterday locked in discussion about how to handle the damaging saga.

The Opposition and KAP both demanded parliamentary investigations and for Ms Palaszczuk to stand down during the deliberations.

KAP Leader Robbie Katter ( left) said the matter had to be referred to the ethics committee.

“In light of the CCC’s findings it is clear that the Prem- ier’s actions were unacceptable,” he said.

“The CCC did not rule out that the Premier had breached the Criminal Code but unfortunately their mandate does not allow them to prosecute cases based on actions in the Queensland Parliament.

“This puts the obligation on the Parliament and the Speaker to deal appropriately with the Premier’s actions,” he said.

Opposition Deputy Leader Tim Mander called for a bipartisan select committee with equal government and nongovernment members to investigate the Premier.

In a statement, CCC said the Premier’s public demands that KAP denounce Senator Anning or lose funding could be considered “entirely inappropriate and to have exposed her to the prospect of facing a charge of bribery under s. 60 of the Criminal Code”.

CCC boss Alan MacSporran said that while the watchdog did have jurisdiction over the matter despite parliamentary privilege, it decided against pursuing a prosecution after weighing up the public interest and the likelihood of success.

However, Mr MacSporran QC said there was evidence Ms Palaszczuk had erred and the Legislative Assembly could pursue the Premier for contempt of Parliament or choose to refer the matter to the Attorney- General.

“It technically satisfies the elements of the offence such that there is what we call as lawyers a prima facie case,” he said.